Rejoice, Arwen fans! I managed to deliver on my promise to give them a scene together. Those of you who like to see Morgana get jealous are also in for a treat.

Merlin's door was locked, and Arthur's polite knock received no answer, so he abandoned politeness and pounded on it. "Merlin! Open up before I break down this door!"

Merlin had no idea whether Arthur could or would actually break down his door, but he undid the locking spell that kept out unwanted visitors just in case. Arthur strode inside intent on finding out what was keeping Merlin so busy that no one, not even his fiancée, had seen him all day, only to find the answer before voicing the question. The table at which Merlin sat was covered with a mess of books and papers seemingly devoid of rhyme or reason, leaving no room for the tray bearing his lunch, which sat untouched on the bed. "What is all this?"

"Edwin's things."

"What do you want with them?"

"Everything he left behind has to be sorted and his personal effects removed before his successor can move into his quarters."

"Your father's already appointed a new court physician?"

"No, but I'm sure he'll find someone soon." Merlin's eyes strayed back to the handwritten journal he had been reading.

Arthur tugged it out of his hands. "If there's no replacement yet, taking inventory isn't that urgent, and it's not even your job."

"He was my friend!" Merlin leapt to his feet and snatched Edwin's journal back. "He taught me everything I know about medicine and science and a lot of magic too-" His voice lowered, becoming soft and sad "-and I trusted him. I thought maybe I'd find something in here - where he got the bloodstones, how long he'd planned on attacking Morgana, why he betrayed the trust my father showed in appointing him and my friendship...anything to help me make sense of his actions. But there's nothing." He slammed the journal shut and tossed it onto the table, where it slid off the top of a teetering stack of books and thumped down into a sheaf of old parchment.

"Ah... You know, even if you found every detail of his plot, I'm not sure it would make you feel any better. It wouldn't change what happened, and if you're looking for further justification for killing him, well, you already have that, don't you? You know he tried to murder Morgana."

"So I should just put it all behind me?"

"Yes!" Arthur said emphatically. "No man is worth your tears." He wasn't sure Merlin had been crying over Edwin - it was possible the redness in his eyes was just from all the long hours he'd spent reading, but Arthur doubted it. Unless Edwin's documents were dusty enough to make Merlin's eyes water, they couldn't be responsible for the faint tear tracks down his face.

Merlin turned away. "What would you know about it?"

"I happen to know a lot about killing."

"On the battlefield, where it's always justifiable. Have you ever regretted killing anyone?"

Arthur bristled at the tone of that question. What did Merlin think he was, a heartless executioner? "A few years ago, King Odin's son challenged me to single combat-"

"I heard about that. You killed him." Merlin tried to sound a little gentler; when that piece of news had reached Dagon he'd been appalled at the senseless loss of life, but just yesterday he had needlessly killed Edwin. He had no right to judge Arthur now.

"I didn't want to. I tried to persuade him to rescind the challenge, but he was too intent on proving himself, so I killed him, and yes, I did regret it." He gave Merlin a moment to digest that, then went on. "But it wasn't the end of the world. Life goes on, and you learn to live with-"

"Being a murderer? I didn't need to kill Edwin, you know - I could have just restrained him, taken him to my father-"

"And then he could have had a fair trial and been executed anyway. Your way was probably kinder; I bet he didn't have time to feel a thing. Say, how come you never fought that way before? If you'd been that aggressive when we were at war you probably could have decimated our forces and razed Camelot to the ground." He forced a short laugh, as if the idea of Merlin razing Camelot were absurd - in a way it was; Merlin had been known to trip over his own feet after all - but after yesterday Arthur's respect for his abilities had increased.

"Maybe I could have," Merlin said thoughtfully, "or maybe not; it took a lot of anger to make my magic lash out that way. During the war, it was hard to get angry when I knew some of the men I was fighting were only there because their king ordered them to be. Some of them were probably good men who didn't deserve to die just because Uther doesn't like magic."

"Of course they were good men! None of them deserved to die!" Even as he defended his fallen comrades-in-arms' honor, Arthur was uncomfortably aware that the war's casualties were more Uther's fault than Merlin's - he had been the one to instigate the hostilities, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Merlin only killed when he felt he had no other option.

"What about you? Were you only following orders, or did you really believe in the cause?"

"After a lifetime of being taught only my father's views on magic...perhaps a part of me did believe your kingdom should be wiped out for allowing it to flourish."

Merlin's penetrating gaze never wavered. "And now? Do you still believe that?" he whispered.

"Your magic saved my life, and Morgana's - I'm starting to see a different side to it. I'm grateful for all you've done."

Merlin scoffed at that; gratitude was better than the condemnation he'd braced himself for, but he didn't feel he deserved it. "You should be grateful to Gwen, since neither of us would've even known Morgana was in danger if it hadn't been for her. I already told her that last night, but I don't know if she was paying attention. She seemed more interested in getting away from me," he said sadly. It probably hadn't helped that he had encountered Gwen near the scene of Edwin's demise, when they had both dropped in to see how the cleanup was going.

"Well, I'll pass it along next time I see her. Now-" Arthur plucked an apple off the abandoned lunch tray "-are you going to eat this?"

###

"Guinevere!"

She dutifully stopped and waited for Arthur to catch up. "Yes, sire?"

"I'm surprised to see you here. Shouldn't you be with Morgana?"

"I'm on my way back to her right now; I was just returning her tray to the kitchens. And you?"

"I've just spoken with Merlin."

"What's he doing?" It had better be something important, though Gwen couldn't think of anything he could be doing that would justify the way he was ignoring Morgana.

"He was brooding over Edwin Muirden, but I talked him out of wasting any more time on useless moping."

"You did? Just like that, you talked him out of feeling sorry for killing his friend?"

Arthur smiled cockily. "Sure. It's all about knowing the right things to say."

Gwen had never considered Arthur a master of words, but she managed to hide her skepticism. "Did you tell him to go check on Morgana?"

"No...should I have?"

Gwen sighed; Arthur's obtuseness was really frustrating sometimes. He was lucky she was more patient than Morgana. "I just know she'd like to see him. Did he ask about her at all?"

"We weren't talking about girls, so she didn't come up."

"Oh. Well, I should get back to Morgana." Who's going to be so disappointed to hear that her fiancé seems more upset about Edwin Muirden than her. She started to walk away.

Arthur followed. "Guinevere, wait, I...I wanted to thank you. You were the one who realized Morgana was in trouble and helped Merlin reach her in time. She owes you her life. I'm in your debt as well, since it's thanks to you I still have a sister."

Gwen slowed her steps, turning her head to look up appraisingly at Arthur. "Thank you sire, that's very kind - although it would have meant more if Merlin hadn't had to tell you to say those things."

"What-? What makes you think I need Merlin to tell me anything?" Arthur spluttered indignantly.

"You only acknowledged that I'd done anything helpful after speaking with him; it's rather obvious. I'm glad he's a good influence - now you might finally learn some manners." She resumed walking, quickly leaving Arthur behind as this time he made no effort to call her back.

###

Morgana was indeed disappointed by Merlin's apparent lack of concern for her, but she didn't stay discouraged for long. "I'll be up and about tomorrow," she said confidently, "and then he'll have to spend time with me whether he likes it or not."

Gwen smiled. "I can't see how any man in his right mind could fail to like being with you. You told me Edwin used to be his friend, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, maybe he's only staying away because he doesn't want you to see him grieving over the man who tried to kill you. Maybe he's afraid you'd be offended."

"Gwen, you're as brilliant as you are kind. I'm sure that's it." It was indeed a plausible explanation but not one that made Morgana feel better, since if Gwen was right it meant that Merlin didn't think she could look beyond her own feelings and understand his sadness, guilt, or whatever it was he felt, nor did he want her trying to comfort him. Why was he so determined to push her away?

"Morgana, are you all right?"

Morgana quickly forced her smile back into place. "I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"Then you should sleep," Gwen said at once. "I'll be quiet." She fetched a rag and began dusting, taking care not to make noise.

Morgana lay down and closed her eyes. She didn't expect to actually fall asleep, but sleep she did, though not deeply; she was aware of Freya's arrival hours later, just before Gwen retired for the night.

"She didn't wake up for dinner," Gwen quietly reported, "so I thought I should just let her rest."

Morgana silently agreed; it wasn't often she was able to sleep without either nightmares or potions, and she wished the maids would hush and let her get on with it.

"Now that you're here I'll take her food back - it's gone cold."

"Leave it," Freya said in the same soft tone as Gwen. "She might be hungry later, and I can make it warm again."

"That's very kind of you."

Morgana heard Gwen walk away. When she heard Freya talking softly again a short time later she assumed Gwen had come back, until Freya's companion spoke. The voice definitely did not belong to Gwen.

"I volunteered to temporarily take over the court physician's duties," Merlin explained in response to Freya's query about what he was doing there, "so I thought I'd better check how the Lady Morgana's recovery is coming along."

"You've left it a bit late," Freya informed him. "She's sleeping." She was wrong about that; Morgana was now wide awake and had opened her eyes just enough to watch the prince and maidservant through her lashes while still appearing to be asleep. "I haven't noticed any lingering ill effects from the poison except weakness, although her strength seems to be coming back to her. Maybe I should wake her and she can say for herself how she's feeling." Freya started toward the bed.

Merlin stopped her with a hand on her arm. "That's not necessary. We should just let her sleep."

Freya slowly turned around to face him again, her eyes narrowing. "You don't want to see her, do you?"

"I can see her - look, she's in plain sight."

"I mean when she's awake. You don't want to talk to her."

Morgana's heart raced, the blood beating so loudly in her ears that she was afraid she wouldn't hear what Merlin said next - yet at the same time she feared she would. What if he said he somehow blamed her for Edwin's treachery and death, or worse, that he simply couldn't be bothered with her except when they were in public and had to keep up appearances?

"I don't know what to say," Merlin admitted. "I'm the one who took her to Edwin and told her she could trust him - she probably hates me."

"I'm sure she doesn't."

"Good for you. I haven't been sure of anything since I met her. My magic made her uncomfortable from the start, and being poisoned with a dark enchantment will only have reinforced her guardian's teachings that all magic is evil! ...And I don't know how to change her mind." He sighed dejectedly. "Everything would be so much simpler if I could just marry you, Freya."

Freya sensed that she couldn't talk him out of his mood, so she hugged him, hoping the supportive gesture would do what words could not.

Morgana's blood boiled. She was a beautiful, wealthy noblewoman, the heiress of Cornwall and the daughter of a king in all but blood; she had been admired, adored, almost worshipped by men from all over Albion when they flocked to Camelot for tournaments - yet Merlin would rather marry Freya? How could he possibly prefer a serving girl who could offer neither the experience to help run his kingdom nor even riches over her? How dare he? And how dare Freya embrace him so brazenly right in front of her, even if she believed Morgana was sleeping? It was all the lady could do not to leap from her bed and tear her shameless maid from his arms...

...But she didn't have to. A window blew open, letting in a gust of cold wind and startling Merlin and Freya apart. Freya ran to secure the window, which had bounced off the wall and was swinging madly on its hinges while Merlin checked that Morgana's covers hadn't been disturbed. She was glad it wasn't Freya bending over her; she might not have been able to resist reaching up and throttling her.

"Why was that window open?" Merlin hissed. "Morgana's already been weakened by Edwin's bloodstones; the last thing she needs is to catch cold!"

"It wasn't open, sire. I remember Gwen closing it."

"Then the latch must be broken."

"I don't think it is." Freya looked bewildered.

Merlin inspected the latch and agreed that it wasn't broken. They decided the window must have simply opened by accident and closed it again, making sure it was safely locked, and then Merlin left.

Morgana was thankful that he hadn't examined her; if he had learned anything from Edwin he'd have known she was merely feigning sleep, which would have been very awkward. She didn't want him to know she had overheard him and Freya...but tomorrow, she thought, her fists clenching beneath her coverlet, she would teach the witch a lesson. She should know not to get too close to a man who belongs to someone else, especially not when that person is me.

Next up: Morgana will finally get set straight on the fact that Freya doesn't want to steal Merlin from her, and we learn why Freya isn't a bastet.

Oh, and for anyone who doesn't think it made sense for Merlin not to have wanted to conquer Camelot, keep in mind that Dagon was only in the war to keep Uther out; all they wanted was to be left alone to live in peace, not to institute a new world order.