Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.


Chapter 19 – The Witch's Threat


The revelation that Morgana was most likely back did not sit well with anyone, least of all Merlin who loudly declared the impromptu press conference at an end, assuring all that should they linger longer than the ten minutes it would take to get outside the castle walls that he would remove them by magic. They all returned to the council chamber, Bors and Lancelot going to fetch their parents, who arrived to see both Arthur and Merlin pacing like caged animals as they hurled insults at each other.

"You said you dealt with her!" The King growled. "I knew you were incompetent, Merlin, but not this much!"

"My apologies, Sire! Do forgive your most humble servant that the evil witch he killed returned without his knowledge! Though I didn't see King Dollop Head doing anything to help!"

"Magic is your realm, idiot, not mine!"

"So that means you can't-"

"Merlin!"

"Arthur!" Their wives shouted when they'd had enough of their fighting. "Enough!"

"Yes, dear."

"Sorry, sweetheart." They responded accordingly.

"So what are we going to do about Morgana?" Leon asked finally when the two had calmed down.

"We do nothing." Gwen said, holding up her hand for silence when both Arthur and Merlin made to interrupt her. "If Merlin did not know that Morgana had returned, and that is if Mordred was telling the truth and she really has, then she is hiding herself well. That means there is nothing we can do until she reveals herself."

"Queen Guinevere is right." Said Percival. "We've been down this road before. Morgana is an expert at hiding, we were never able to find her hideout. If she has returned it is very unlikely we will succeed now. Especially if Merlin cannot even sense her."

"I can't." Merlin grumbled. "So much for being the greatest sorcerer to ever exist."

"You are the greatest sorcerer to ever exist." Mithian said comfortingly, coming over and grasping his hand. "The ancient prophecies never said that you would be all powerful and would never face adversity."

"We beat her before, and we will again." Gwen said comfortingly to her own husband, following Mithian's example and coming to his side. "At least we now know why we have awoken in this time."

"I thought you said that it was possible Morgana hadn't returned." Arthur muttered. Gwen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Please. None of us actually believe that." Arthur couldn't fight her on that. Once the thought of Morgana having returned had entered his mind he knew it to be true; he wasn't lucky enough for it not to be.

"So now what?" Gwaine asked. "As wonderful as it is being home again, I'm going to say we should operate as if we'll survive the coming battle until proven otherwise."

"Meaning we shouldn't destroy our present day selves' futures and so can't stay here. There's classes to attend and end of term exams to take." Lancelot finished for his friend.

"You're encouraging us to study?" Mithian asked, both her and Gwen being quite shocked. The Lancelot they knew hated learning of any kind if it came from a book and not on the training field. Though, they supposed, they didn't know the present day Logan very well.

"I'll have you know that I am set to graduate with third class honours, thank you very much."

"You're bragging about honours with Tristan in the room?" Bors laughed.

"First class honours?" Gwen asked happily, seeing that Tristan was still the scholar of their group.

"So long as I don't screw up my finals." He smiled back.

"And you?" Gwen asked her husband, who wouldn't look her way. "No honours I take it?" She was by no means upset, there was nothing wrong with graduating without honours. It was just the fact that Lancelot of all people had higher grades than him was too good a teasing opportunity to pass up.

"I could graduate with third class honours." He said. "So long as I get 95% or higher on every single one of my finals. Which isn't going to happen now. Not with all this going on."

"No, you will study, Arthur, do you understand?" Gwen chastised. "Like Gwaine said we will not ruin our present selves' futures, nor put them on hold until absolutely necessary." She turned to the group as a whole. "So we will return to university and our normal lives." She directed to the parents. "And we will keep you in the loop as much as we can." It was the only assurance they were going to get, they knew, given it was not their children who stood before them but a King and Queen of legend and their court. A fact they were still coming to terms with.

oo00oo00oo

The return to Oxford was met with one singular reaction, the severity of which ranged from curiosity to absolute shock. People stared as they passed in the corridors while classmates and professors who they were previously on friendly terms with now seemed to not know how to act around them. The only one who reacted with joy was Miranda's professor in her introductory Arthurian legends course; the professor had spent his life learning and teaching about King Arthur and the time he was said to have lived in and now he had access to someone who had actually been there and knew the legendary King. That was one thing that they found a bit confusing: no one doubted that they were the reincarnations of arguably mythical beings for whose existence there was no solid historical evidence. Merlin did not have a real answer, stating only that it was probably ancient magic at work, for The Once and Future King and Queen rising again would be pointless if no one believed them. Whatever the case they were glad not to have to defend their existence, especially as they had enough other things to defend, or at least Aric, Gina and Miranda did, much to their annoyance. Leon had not been joking when he said that the Knights would work out a schedule to ensure they were never alone and unprotected and he had not changed his mind when returned to being Leo once more. He and Pierce demanded Gina's schedule from her and compared all of their schedules to hers and Aric's, working it so that at least one of the Knights were with them at all times. It was easier with Aric who had some classes with them, while two of Gina's were covered for she shared the mandatory first year English and philosophy classes with Miranda, who had Merlin as her shadow. In any case all three had to speak with their professors and explain either the Knights or Merlin's presence in their classes.

In the first week after their awakening Aric, Gina, Miranda and the Knights discovered how hard it was to have two people living inside your head, and how hard it was to find a balance between those people. Two thousand years ago Aric, Gina and Miranda's royal status had seen servants jumping at their every whim and a certain level of reverence from everyone who was not a royal themselves, even among their friends. The three had also been quite independent for the times, yet even so they did not blink an eye now when the Knights or Merlin jumped to do something for them given the absence of servants, nor did Merlin or the Knights bat an eye at performing such tasks. More often than not they even referred to them as 'Your Majesty' or 'My Lord/Lady', a lifetime of conditioning being hard to overcome even two thousand years later. And so it was unsurprising to find Gina going to lunch in the student cafeteria with her two guards, with Ben carrying her tray and Pierce pulling her chair out for her with a murmur of "My Lady." Once seated all three took out their books or laptops and began studying, though Pierce and Ben took turns surveying the area for threats.

"You can study at the same time you know." Gina called them on it. "Morgana is not known for her sneak attacks, we'd see it coming even without your vigilance."

"You mean like her illusions, which no one saw until it was too late?" Pierce countered.

"Or her penchant for using magic to shield an army until they catch us completely unawares?" Ben added.

"Our apologies, Your Majesty, if we do not bet your safety on Morgana attacking with something as conspicuous as a Wilddeoren." Pierce said, sending her a look as if to say she should know better. Gina merely rolled her eyes but left them to it. They had been studying for not twenty minutes when a group of girls took a seat a couple tables away from them, their voices carrying loudly, and drawing the attention of Pierce and Ben when someone they knew well was mentioned.

"So are you and Aric back together then?" One girl asked.

"Oh yes. He spent the night yesterday. We only crawled out of bed when I said I absolutely couldn't miss my second class of the day." Gina softly scoffed under her breath, still not looking up from her books. Aric's name had naturally drawn her attention, as Arthur's always had in the past, though once she had seen who it was that spoke she was determined not to rise to the bait, for that is exactly what it was; there was no reason for Amber to know that Aric had essentially moved Gina into his room, but it meant Gina knew with absolute certainty that her lie was just that. Gina's quiet scoff had been heard by the two men who looked to her cautiously.

"You know who that is then?" Ben asked, he and Pierce being only too familiar with Aric's former girlfriend.

"Oh yes. She was pointed out to at the football match before…well before everything happened. I was actually advised to not get in her way as she attempted to get Aric back."

"I never did like her." Pierce mumbled, following Gina's example and trying to ignore Amber and her clique. It proved difficult, however, for the two Knights as Amber's words turned insulting.

"You know Margie told me that some strumpet was asking about my Aric at the game." The offensive word saw both men tense, having never taken an insult to their Queen kindly.

"Ignore it." Gina murmured, though that proved impossible for the Knights as Amber continued her attack, her words only confirming that she knew Gina was there and who she was and that this was just that, an attack on their Queen.

"But wasn't that woman his wife?" One of Amber's friends finally asked. "Or his past self's wife?"

"That doesn't matter, it's not like an ancient marriage would hold up now anyways." Amber said flippantly. "Aric assured me that whoever she supposedly was a long time ago she's nothing but a first year tart throwing herself at him now" Gina's arm came up to stop Pierce from jumping up. "He proposed you know. I told him I couldn't possibly accept until after graduation but then there would be nothing stopping us from being together. He even mentioned that his past self felt the same and couldn't wait to make me his queen."

"Not bloody likely." Ben growled.

"Benjamin!" Gina snapped. "Enough!"

"You can't possibly expect us to just sit here as that wench insults your honour!" Pierce joined in.

"That is exactly what I expect." Amber's table had gone silent as they listened in, though Gina did not raise her voice. "We know her words to be naught but lies. It is beneath our dignity to respond to one such as her." Her words calmed the Knights somewhat, but not even Gina's staying hand and firm voice could stop their response when Amber spoke to her directly.

" 'One such as me?' " She demanded with venom in her voice, coming to stand before Gina, her clique flanking her. "This 'one' is Aric's fiancée, the future wife of King Arthur!" Amber was not one for subtlety, her voice having grown louder and drawing the attention of others in the cafeteria. "He spent the night with me, he loves me! And it's no wonder when the alternative is an adulterous cow like you. The entire world knows of your affair with Lancelot! You're just a jealous cow who doesn't want to admit that I won!" A light briefly flashed as Ben and Pierce lost the fight to keep their past selves down, leaving two fully armoured Knights of the Round Table in their place.

"You would do well to not insult our Queen so." Percival snarled.

"We know you lie, least of all because Their Majesties spent the night together, as they have every night since they were reunited." Bors added.

"And the 'entire world' as you say, knows nothing, just as you don't. Chrétien de Troyes made up that disgusting piece of fiction. The Queen never betrayed The King so, or in any manner, their love was well known throughout all of Britain."

"Sir Percival, Sir Bors, that is quite enough." Gina spoke, still holding on to her control, though only just. She had allowed the two their say, knowing from experience that she would not be able to stop them until they did, but she would allow no more.

"My Queen we cannot allow your honour to be impugned so!" Percival argued.

"Yes you can. This is no longer the medieval era where any slight to the nobility could land you in the stocks. In fact the stocks no longer even exist save in a museum or as a prop in some show. As such you will let it go."

"I'd gladly build some for her." Bors growled.

"Enough, Sir Bors. This ends now." Gina looked to both Knights before pointedly taking her seat once more, clearly expecting them to follow her example. It was a long moment before they did and when Amber remained where she was instead of leaving Gina began packing her bag, knowing it was best to leave as the two Knights would not return to their present day selves until they were away from Amber.

"Aric is mine!" Amber burst out when Gina stood, still having not once acknowledged her. "I don't know who you think you are but he's mine, and I won't let some…whore stand in my way!" Bors and Percival each took a menacing step forward but Gina held up her hand to stop her as she finally turned to face Amber, another brief flash of light signalling the loss of her own control, though she was quite pleased that she'd lasted this long; it was quite an accomplishment for a Queen who was used to commanding respect and instantly putting down anyone who did not show her her due. Seeing two of the legendary Knights of the Round Table fully decked out as such was quite awe-inspiring on its own, but seeing The Queen of legend looking every bit as a Queen should, was something else, especially when that Queen was the object of your ire.

" 'Who do I think I am?' " Gwen repeated softly. "I think it is quite obvious who I am. I am Guinevere Pendragon, Queen of Camelot and High Queen of Britain. I am the wife of High King Arthur and together we are The Once and Future King and Queen. Our destinies have been intertwined for two thousand years, our love having withstood that long. Not even the force that destroyed us and our kingdom, that saw us relegated to naught of legend, could tear Arthur and I apart. If that evil could not succeed, you do not stand a chance, and I would advise you not to try, for next time it may not be the Knights I can command who stand with me, but my husband, The King, who's temper and actions I cannot hope to quell." This was not true by any means, Gwen was actually quite good and handling Arthur, having gotten it down to an art where in some cases a mere look was enough to have him submit to her wishes; however, Amber did not need to know that. Gwen stared down the other girl who looked like she would love nothing better then respond, or even better, punch Gwen in the face. Whether she would unwisely give in, however, would not be found out as a frantic Merlin suddenly appeared before them.

"Merlin what is it?" Gwen asked instantly, knowing all too well that look on his face. Merlin did not answer her beyond a polite greeting; instead he turned to face Bors.

"Vanora and your children have been found." Percival reached over and grasped his fellow Knight when the man wavered, his mind working enough as Merlin flashed the three of them away to be glad that he had not fainted, for he never would have heard the end of it.

"Papa! Papa!" The voice of several children were heard before the room had even fully materialized and Bors found himself knocked to the ground as he was attacked by little arms wrapping themselves around him. Bors wrapped his arms around as many as he could and happily listened to their nonsensical chatter as they vied for his attention. After awhile Bors extracted himself from their grasp and saw his three oldest standing to the side, having purposefully not entered the fray given they were much bigger than their younger siblings, though their smiles were no less bright.

"Gilly." He murmured pulling his seventeen-year-old into a hug, quickly followed by fifteen-year-old Anna and fourteen-year-old James.

"Are you crying, papa?" Young Anthony, who was seven, asked.

"Absolutely not." Bors grumbled. Looking down as his other children, whose ages ranged from twelve to five, Bors was truly content for the first time in this life, he no longer felt like something was off or missing; at least he was content, until he noticed that there were only eight children before him.

"Where's Roy?" He asked, looking for his second youngest who had been six-years-old, and the companion of Prince William.

"The Witch kidnapped him." A voice he knew all too well said.

"Vanora…" Still clutching his youngest in one arm Bors reached out and pulled his wife to him, giving her a kiss before turning back to the matter at hand. "What do you mean the Witch kidnapped him? What happened?"

"We awoke yesterday. We were lucky that we weren't separated. In this time I'm a foster mum, to all nine of our children."

"Who will all be legally adopted so the authorities in this time have no claim on them." Bors interrupted.

"My name in this time is Veronica, by the way. The children's are the same, thank god. There's enough trouble remembering nine names, don't want to think about having to remember eighteen." Bors grunted in agreement. "We'd all seen the news, of course, so this morning I packed them in the car and headed here. We couldn't drive all the way to the gates, wherever the road used to be I couldn't find it so we got out to walk when she came."

"Morgana?" Bors clarified. Vanora nodded.

"She wanted all of our children, but with so many of them she couldn't keep track of them all, which held her off until Merlin came."

"They were close enough to the wards surrounding Camelot for me to feel Morgana's magic." The warlock took over explaining. "When she saw me she grabbed Roy and disappeared."

"I'm going to tan that boy's hide when I get him back." Vanora snapped, though they knew it was an empty threat; she had never once hit her children. "The Witch didn't just grab the nearest kid, your son charged her with his toy sword! He takes a couple lessons with a wooden sword from you and he gains your arrogance!"

"Oi! He's our son, not just mine!" Vanora narrowed her eyes but said nothing else; this was not the time for such an argument.

"So how are we getting him back?" She asked the room in general.

"I'm hoping the magical trace she left behind will be enough for me to trace her." Merlin answered. "If it is then-" He cut off and his head snapped towards the door.

"Merlin?" Arthur questioned.

"Someone just entered the castle gates." Arthur and his Knights reached for their swords, but Merlin held up a hand to stop them.

"It means someone else has awakened, or one of your parents has come to visit. I used a tricky bit of magic to make the wards such that only those I key into the them can enter here. Only our family, both past and present, have such access." They didn't have to wait long before a knock sounded at the doors. Gwaine went to open them, and smiled at who he saw.

"Mother…" Merlin murmured, seeing Hunith walk into the room.

"Oh, Merlin!" She gasped, rushing forwards and wrapping an arm around her son, being cautious of the bundle in her arms, a bundle that drew Merlin's attention when they pulled apart.

"Am I to take it that I have a baby sister?" He asked cautiously, not sure how he felt about that.

"No! Good god no!" Hunith vehemently denied, looking horrified by the very thought. "You were more than enough, thank you very much."

"Then who's baby is this?" In answer Hunith turned to look at the other occupants of the room, her eyes finally landing on the curly haired First Knight.

"Sir Leon, Sara has missed her father." Hearing his daughter's name Leon rushed forward and gently pushed the blanket the baby was wrapped in away from her face, seeing indeed that it was his daughter. Taking the little girl into his arms Leon sighed in contentment along side her, when she burrowed her little head into his shoulder as she had done countless time in their previous life.

"Thank you, Hunith, for bringing her to me." He said.

"Lady Elena would have brought her if it weren't for Morgana." The former Head Housekeeper replied.

"Morgana took Elena? She took Roy as well." Said Leon at Hunith's nod.

"She tried to take Sara, but Elena stood in her way and allowed herself to be taken instead."

"So she's going after all the children then?" Gwen spoke for the first time since leaving the cafeteria. "That means that William and Eleanor could…" She looked to Arthur with both hope and despair in her eyes. If both Leon and Bors' children had been reborn, it was likely that her children had too; however, that made them a target for Morgana, probably the biggest target aside from Arthur himself.

"If they are here we will find them, sweetheart." He assured her. As Leon and Bors got reacquainted with their children, and the others pondered who else could have been reborn, Merlin withstood his mother's questioning, though he didn't care in the least that she was practically interrogating him for he had her back after all this time. After a few minutes Mithian had joined them, Hunith greeting her daughter-in-law happily, before Merlin turned the interrogation on her.

"Are you happy in this life, mother? If you aren't I will fix it." Hunith smiled at how simply he said it, as if he would simply wave his hand and cast some spell to change her life if she wasn't happy with it. Of course, given who he was, she didn't doubt that he could do just that.

"I am quite happy, Merlin. More so, now that I have my son and daughter-in-law, with me, but I was still happy. My name is Hannah in this time," She explained. "And I am a nurse at a hospital in Richmond, outside London. Elena, or Ellie as she is known now, is a nurse alongside me." Leon had heard his wife's name and so joined them as well, learning what he could about her life in this time. "Sara is her daughter in this time as well, and magic is clearly at work for while she knows that Sara is hers biologically, and knows who the father is, it was never anything concrete. She only had feelings really, that she knew and loved Sara's father, and that he was away, but she never found it odd that she didn't know his name or that he never returned home."

"So there isn't another man in her life." Leon said feeling relieved.

"No there isn't." Hunith confirmed. "We remembered earlier today and when our shifts ended we went to fetch Sara from the nanny to come here, but Morgana caught us before we could even get in the car."

"At least you and Sara are safe, and we will get Elena back." Merlin promised.

"There's more." Said Hunith. "Elena and I are not the only ones to work at the hospital." She paused and Merlin raised his eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Uncle Gaius is a doctor there."

"Has he awoken?" Merlin asked hopefully.

"Yes, he awoke at the same time as Elena and I."

"Well where is he? Why did he not come with you?"

"He said that now he has awoken he recognized some of his neighbours were like us as well and wanted to check on them first. If they had awakened too they would come together."

"It'll take too long for them to get here, and with Morgana kidnapping people I don't want to risk leaving them in the open. I'll go get them." Merlin disappeared without another word, giving his mother and those who had only just awoken quite a surprise.

"Merlin has become quite powerful in his two thousand years." Mithian explained with some sadness as was always the case when she thought of her husband's many years alone. "He has become even more powerful than The Lady herself." This news was both surprising and not. They knew Merlin was supposed to be the greatest sorcerer to ever exist and so it was not surprising that that is exactly what he had become. However, given the way he spoke about The Lady of the Lake, a part of them had questioned whether he would ever be that powerful.

"Mithian is right, their roles appear to have reversed somewhat." Arthur said as he and Gwen joined them.

"Your Majesties." Hunith curtseyed, though neither allowed it for long, immediately pulling her up and welcoming her back with a hug.

"What do you mean their roles have reversed?" Hunith then asked.

"It was subtle, but the reverence Merlin showed The Lady due to her power is gone, and there are traces of such reverence when The Lady spoke to Merlin." Gwen answered.

"The Lady was here?!" This was truly surprising, no one had heard of The Lady of the Lake leaving Avalon or the Isle of the Blessed since Uther's purge of magic, and before that only rarely did she leave her home.

"Indeed, much has changed." The conversation turned much lighter after that as they all got acquainted with who they were in this time. Though Bors and Percival both earned The Queen's ire when they told Arthur about Amber's attack on her. He was quite upset about it, ready to go confront Amber himself, had Gwen not stopped him. Gwen then got off the subject by asking Bors what he was going to do now that he found Vanora and his children. He was in school, after all, unable to move to be with them, while his dorm was far from large enough for them all, and Vanora was no doubt older than him if she was a foster mum, while given his younger age then he had been two thousand years ago, many of his children were physically too old to be his children. She succeeded in distracting him even if he merely responded that he would have to do with visits for the final month of classes and then they would figure it out. By then Merlin had been gone far too long for anyone's liking, though he returned just short of Arthur mounting a search party, with Gaius at his side, both looking the worse for wear.

"What happened?!" Arthur demanded as he and Hunith helped the two to a couple of chairs.

"What do you think happened?" Merlin grumbled. "Morgana's been one step ahead of us this whole time."

"Merlin was barely able to get me out." Gaius said. "Morgana had already captured the ones I sought to bring to Camelot. She was debating about taking me as well or simply killing me when Merlin arrived."

"Who was it, Gaius?" Hunith asked.

"Alaria, Mary and the children." He said, looking to both Dagonet and Tristan. Both men laughed happily at their families having been found, though they quickly sobered, remembering that while they'd been found, they were also in Morgana's clutches.

"We will get them back." Arthur assured his friends.

"And I have an even better way than hoping her magical signature is enough." Merlin said. He held up a wet scrap of black cloth.

"What is a wet cloth going to do?" Dagonet asked.

"The cloth is a piece of Morgana's clothing, and it is soaked in her blood. With this I can search for her life force which is much harder to hide than magic."

"So you'll definitely be able to find her then?" Tristan sounded hopeful.

"Yes."

"Then do what you need to do, Merlin, so we may get our family back."

oo00oo00oo

With Morgana going on the offensive and bits of their family returned to them, it was unanimously decided that they would stay within the protection of Camelot that night. Arthur and Gwen retired to their chambers shortly after dinner and made use of the large modern bath, which stuck out like a sore thumb in the medieval castle.

"Do you think we'll find them, Arthur?" Gwen asked as she leaned back into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Arthur did not need to ask who she spoke of.

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

"But with everyone else's children turning up, surely-"

"We can't know for sure, Guinevere." He hated having to say that there was a chance they would not see their children again, but he knew it would be far worse if either of them got their hopes up and it never happened. "All we know for certain at the moment is that Morgana does not have them. If she did she would be at Camelot's gates demanded we do whatever she asks in return for their lives. The fact that she isn't tell us that either she simply hasn't found them, or…"

"Or they were not reborn alongside us." Gwen finished. Arthur wrapped his arms around his wife, holding her close as they both tried not to think of that possibility. "I don't know if I can live without them, Arthur." Gwen spoke again finally.

"We will look for them, sweetheart, I promise you. If they do not turn up by the time Morgana is defeated then we will search."

"Must we wait that long?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Yes. Finding them now would only place them in danger. Morgana would stop at nothing to get her hands on them to harm us. She's already kidnapped the children and wives of some of our Knights in order to exact her vengeance, we cannot allow the same to happen to our children too, for they would be in far worse danger."

"She is cruel to go after children."

"She knows where to hurt us the most." He growled. "Our love for our children was no secret. Contrary to the times we were overly affectionate even in public, we took care of them ourselves for the most part, which was unheard of. I remember when I was William's age and I had a 'daily viewing' with father. My nurse would bring me before him for but a few minutes each day, and sometimes not even every day. When I grew and started training as a knight he showed more interest in me, but it was never an affectionate interest, but rather a calculating one. He would assess how long it would take before I was ready to lead men into battle. Such was the way of the lives of royal children, and often simply noble ones."

"I don't remember my father much." Gwen said. "I know he loved me. I remember…feelings mostly. Knowing I was happy when he was around."

"Well, I cannot say how glad I am for that as it paved the way for how we are with our children. I am glad that William and Eleanor are not being raised as I was."

"Were not you mean. Past tense unless we find them."

"If they are here, Guinevere, we will. Morgana will not have her revenge. We will get our family back, defeat her, then do all we can to find our children."