Sparks

by LizzeXX

Arthur/OC – When Merlin's sister Marayna arrives in Camelot, Arthur's life will never be the same. Where Merlin is open and honest, Marayna is coarse and unashamed, leaving Arthur constantly bewildered and intrigued. As the fate and future of Camelot changes around her very presence, the real question is…will Arthur even survive TWO servants? First in the Draconian Prophecies.

11. The Gates of Avalon

The Gates of Avalon

Merlin found himself starting awake by a sudden move next to him.

"Arthur!" Morgana gasped as she nearly jumped awake and out of the bed. She sat up quickly, looking around, fear present in her eyes, "Arthur!"

Merlin quickly sat up and wrapped his arms around her, "It's alright," he whispered, hugging her close as she turned and buried her face into his chest. He frowned, she was shaking. Usually when she woke like that she'd pant a bit, put a hand to her head, and let out a breath before falling back down, calm...so this...it had to be frightful and serious, "What is it?"

She sighed, "Bad dream," she mumbled into his shirt, "I'm sorry I woke you…it was so real though…"

"It was only a dream," he whispered, rocking her softly till she calmed down, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm alright," she breathed in his scent and pulled back, "It's just a dream, no need to get so upset about it."

She smiled up at him as he pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear before glancing out the window to see the sun just peeking out of the ground. He sighed, "I'd better go," he mumbled softly. She simply nodded, offering a quiet thank you as she laid back down, she always slept better when Merlin was there, like...like he was protect her in her dreams, like whatever horrible things she saw she knew they couldn't hurt her with Merlin there. Merlin pulled the covers up more, hesitating a moment before laying a quick soft kiss on her forehead, beaming when he saw it had been well received given Morgana's answering smile and blush, before quietly making his way out of the room.

~8~

Arthur crept quietly through the woods, his crossbow at the ready. He paused, crouching down, spying a deer in the distance and slowly raised the bow, looking down the arrow at his prey, waiting for the opportune moment to…

He suddenly found himself on the ground, a piece of something furry in his mouth. He spit it out to see that Marayna had stumbled into him, knocked him over, and was now practically laying on top of him. The fur that had been in his mouth was one of the smaller animals he had caught earlier that she was carrying.

He was about to scold her for ruining his shot when she giggled and looked at him. She glanced at their position before smirking, "Is this the proper occasion?"

For the last week or so, any chance Marayna had gotten to spark even the tiniest bit of intimacy she had followed it by that question. He knew she was teasing him about his comment with Richard, how he'd said it wasn't the proper moment for the man to hold her so closely while dancing...he also knew he didn't much mind the intimacy she created either. Though he'd tried to put a stop to it when his father had almost caught them in an incriminating position as he was trying to teach her how to use a crossbow herself, having finally gotten tired of her constant pleas to teach her for the last few months. If his father had seen them, Marayna's life would be on the line and he...he honestly couldn't bear to think of what would happen if she were no longer in his life. He had no idea what Richard had been thinking in asking Marayna to marry him, both their fathers would have had her executed or something, using the excuse of sorcery and enchantment to explain a prince falling for a servant. But then again, if Marayna was to be believed in her tirade against the other prince...Richmond wasn't the sharpest sword in the armory.

Marayna shook her head at his thoughtful expression, knowing she had gotten to him. She loved doing that, surprising him with situations and positions like that, almost...teasing him, if she were to believe Merlin's comments on it all. She laughed quietly as she stood, reaching out a hand to help the prince up. She glanced to her side before looking back the way she came and holding up a finger to her lips before pushing a branch aside to reveal the deer still standing there.

Arthur smirked and crouched down, preparing to fire another shot when Merlin came bursting though the trees and straight into him, which made Marayna whoop and cheer as the deer was startled off. As though she'd let Arthur hunt the poor creature, she knew Merlin was on the way and she rather enjoyed watching Arthur nearly topple over again. Merlin had been carrying the other weapons which made him heavier than normal and able to unbalance Arthur, but the prince managed to catch his balance just in time.

"What is it?" Merlin asked, excited, staring through the trees to see the deer scamper off.

"You really are a total buffoon, aren't you Merlin?" Arthur snapped. He could handle one of them bumping into him, but both of them? Sometimes he wondered if their clumsiness was just an act to annoy him.

"I was just asking," Merlin mumbled, pouting, as his sister just laughed.

"Who? Me or the deer? We're supposed to be hunting. It requires speed, stealth, and an agile mind," he finished that thought by smacking Merlin on the forehead.

"So how do you do it on only 2 then?" Marayna quipped and Arthur turned to round on her when a scream echoed through the forest.

"What was that?" Merlin looked up.

"Quiet," Arthur ordered. They were silent, waiting, listening...when another scream reached them. Arthur immediately grabbed his sword from Merlin and ran towards the sound. Merlin followed a moment later with his sister only to see an old man and a young woman in yellow robes surrounded by bandits.

"Please," the old man cried out as he was thrown down, "I beg you. Mercy!"

The young woman screamed once more as she was detained by another bandit shrieking as the man's grip tightened when one of his fellows fell to the ground as Arthur shot him with his crossbow. The prince quickly dropped it and went after the first two bandits with his sword, taking them out with ease. He'd knocked one down and was concentrating on the second when the first began to rise again, unbeknownst to the prince.

Marayna glanced up and saw an old tree, 'Merlin there!' she called to him, directing his gaze to the same tree.

Understanding what his sister had in mind, Merlin quickly uttered a spell, "Forbærne firgenholt," causing the branch to break off the tree and plummet onto the head of the bandit.

Arthur succeeded in killing the last of the bandits until only one remained...a man who fled from the swordsman far more skilled than himself. He glanced up at the same tree, looking at the cracked branch, muttering, "That's a stroke of luck," under his breath as he made his way to the two travelers, huddled in fear.

"And let that be a lesson to you!" Merlin shouted after the fleeing bandit...only for Arthur to turn to stare at him.

"What?" Marayna smirked, earning a smile from the prince, "Merlin's making sure they don't try to attack Camelot."

Arthur just shook his head and turned to face the cloaked travelers, "Are you alright?" he asked them, his attention on the young woman, "They didn't hurt you?"

The young woman suddenly turned, lifting the hood of her golden cloak as she did so to reveal a beautiful brunette though...Marayna blinked, she could have sworn that a second ago the two appeared to be ugly blue creatures, but it had to be her imagination. They looked perfectly normal.

"No," the woman smiled at Arthur, who stared at her.

Marayna flinched slightly as a sort of pain hit her. It felt like a pinch in her chest, but it was gone so quickly, she was sure she had just pulled something on their run over and shook her head, it was probably nothing.

"Thanks to you," the woman continued, gesturing to herself and the old man beside her, "I'm Sophia, this is my father."

"Arthur Pendragon," he introduced himself, reaching out to lift the woman's hand to his lips, "At your service."

Marayna just shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

~8~

Arthur, Merlin, and Marayna stood to the side in the Main Hall as the old man and Sophia stood before the king, introducing themselves, "My name is Aulfric, heir to Tia Moor, this is my daughter, Sophia," the old man stated, smiling at the girl beside him as he leaned on a walking staff.

"You're a long way from home," Uther commented, "What brings you to Camelot?"

"Our home was sacked by raiders. We barely escaped with what few possessions we could carry."

"These are dangerous times," Uther nodded, understanding, "What will you do?"

"We travel west to Kylieon, to where we have family and hope for a new life," Aulfric spoke quietly, resting a hand on his daughter's back.

"You must stay here for a while, break your journey," Uther invited, nodding to himself, "A noble family like yours is always welcome in Camelot."

Marayna snorted at that, Merlin nudging her in the side for it, but it was just so...Uther. To only welcome the noble families instead of making Camelot feel like all were welcome. Not that ALL ever did feel welcome, nobility or not Uther would murder any magic user to set foot in the kingdom. Which only reaffirmed Marayna's claim, in her mind, that Uther cared more about the kingdom than the people in it. Unlike Arthur who...actually seemed to stand a chance of being a better man than his father was...if she and Merlin could just get him to realize not every single person with magic was evil. She'd helped him in taking a rather large step when she'd explained what happened to his mother, he had sworn only to punish those who deserved it, those who used their magic for evil...

The only problem with that was...Arthur hadn't said much after that, they had no idea if he still considered every (or even a majority) of magic users evil and thus deserving of the punishments his father was dishing. They wouldn't blame him if he did, it seemed like everyone with magic that came to Camelot tried to use it to harm Uther by harming Arthur. They really did need to introduce him to something, anything, that portrayed magic for good. They couldn't let him fall into Uther's trap and start to think that most of the magic users were inherently evil or foul, they needed him to see it COULD be chosen to be used for good.

Aulfric nodded and he and his daughter turned to leave the Main Hall, Sophia pausing by the door and glancing over her shoulder at Arthur with a small smirk on her face...

"Ow," Marayna flinched again, resting a hand over her heart. The pinch had happened again, just...a bit more noticeable this time.

"Are you alright?" Merlin glanced at her worriedly.

She rubbed her chest for a moment, looking up to see Sophia walk out, before nodding, "I'm fine," she murmured, though she was frowning at the door, "...just a pinch."

Merlin nodded, though his gaze lingered on his sister until Arthur stepped away from them to continue to watch Sophia leave the hall.

~8~

"Make sure you put her in a decent room," Arthur ordered as he entered his room, Merlin and Marayna following behind him.

"The one next door's empty," Merlin commented before he could stop himself, his head shooting up to look at his sister. He cursed himself for making such a suggestion because of what it implied, but she didn't seem too bothered by it...actually it didn't even seem like she'd heard him as she was absently tidying the room...and then he knew something was most certainly bothering her given that she was actually and willingly cleaning.

"The one next door's fine," Arthur paused, smiling, "Excellent, in fact," he nodded...before he saw Merlin staring at him, a knowing look in his eyes, "Shut up, Merlin," he shook his head.

"He didn't say anything," Marayna laughed, shaking herself out of her thoughts and moving to stand next to her brother.

"He didn't have to," Arthur rolled his eyes at them both smirking at him, "I want to make it clear that my intentions towards Sophia are completely honorable," a moment later he added, "Put her in the room on the other side of the castle, its warmer, it's more comfortable."

"Of course," Merlin nodded, liking the idea that the woman would be far away from Arthur very much. He knew his sister cared for the prince deeply, even if she refused to admit it. Having that Sophia girl around would only serve to cause his Aya unnecessary pain, and he tried to avoid that at all costs as a good older brother did.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the same train of thought as his sister, "She's rather beautiful, isn't she?" he heard Marayna mention nonchalantly. He turned his head to shoot her a questioning glance, which she ignored, her attention focused on Arthur.

"Yes she is," the prince smiled.

"And if you have 'honorable' intentions…"

"Oh, I do. Most definitely."

"Then why can't she stay next door again?" she finished.

"You know...I have no idea," Arthur smirked, glancing at Marayna, "You've convinced me, put her in the room next to mine."

Marayna nodded and headed out the door, followed closely by her brother, neither of them seeing Arthur's smirk turn into a sort of frown as he sighed, watching her go.

'Aya what are you doing?' she heard in her mind as they walked down the halls.

She sighed, the smile on her face now falling into a frown that, unknown to her, was mirroring Arthur's, 'Something isn't right about Sophia,' she answered, 'This is the only way we can keep an eye on her.'

Merlin frowned, he'd thought Sophia was a pleasant person, but he knew his sister, knew enough not to doubt her and the impressions she got of people, 'We could have put her on the other side of the castle. She'd be farther from Arthur if she's plotting something.'

'Keep your friends close and enemies closer,' she recited an old lesson of Gaius's, 'If she does anything, I'd rather it be under my nose than behind my back.'

Merlin nodded, though he could tell that this was actually bothering her more than she let on, a thought that became even more clear when, as they walked, it was in silence, his sister was hardly ever that quiet unless something was upsetting her, 'Everything will be alright you know.'

She nodded, forcing a smile as her brother draped an arm over her shoulders, sensing her unease, 'I hope so.'

He gave her a sideways squeeze, at least now he knew what SHE was so eager for Sophia to be so close...now he just had to figure out why ARTHUR was so eager for it as well. The man was so smitten by his sister that he was breaking glass goblets and nearly starting wars by interrupting dances...yet Arthur was staring off after Sophia.

So what was Arthur's reasoning in all that?

~8~

Marayna sat in Gaius's chambers that night, worried about Morgana. After she and Merlin had taken Sophia to her new room Morgana had cornered them and demanded to know who the girl was. It was clear to them both that she did NOT want that girl there and appeared to be quite frightened and pale. Merlin explained later that Morgana had had a terrible nightmare last night and hadn't been able to get back to sleep. When Marayna asked what it was about Merlin could only answer Arthur as Morgana hadn't talked about the dream after that. Which didn't help calm the girl's fears any as what felt like omen after omen built up, which made her reconsider how wise it was to put Sophia so near Arthur's rooms.

When they'd returned to Gaius's chambers, the old man had told them of Morgana visiting him as well and how he had given her a stronger draught to take. Upon hearing that, Merlin immediately excused himself to check on Morgana, leaving his sister alone to her thoughts.

She ran a hand through her hair, throughout the day, whenever she saw Aulfric or Sophia she kept catching glimpses of them with blue skin. But a second later they would be normal again. That had never happened to her before and she was concerned that it might be an affliction of her eyes, but she didn't want to tell her uncle that. He had enough to worry about with Morgana. Sighing, she stood and made her way to bed.

Meanwhile, in another room of the castle, Merlin laid awake, staring at Morgana as she laid in his arms. He'd been both hopeful that the draught would work and terrified that it wouldn't and refused to sleep even a wink until he knew for sure. He held Morgana firmly, trying to offer as much comfort as possible incase it wasn't quite as strong as she'd hoped it would be.

She had told him a few times that she would have a nightmare and his presence comforted her enough to allow her to sleep through to the end of it. There had been an odd number of times where a rather vivid or terrible nightmare had forced her awake, like last night, where his presence did very little other than calm her down after she'd woken. But still, it DID calm her even then. And he liked that, he liked being a comfort to her.

A whimper reached his ears and he glanced down to see Morgana turning her head this way and that, followed closely by her twitching as a nightmare set in. Not wanting to have her terrified, he proceeded to gently shake her awake. Sometimes he could wake her before they got too bad as well.

Her eyes fluttered open revealing fear in their depths as they looked into Merlin's. She scrunched them shut and rolled on her side, burying her face into his chest as he held her.

~8~

The next morning would find Marayna at work, making Arthur's bed, discretely listening in on her brother's conversation with the prince. This morning had revealed a pleasant surprise of Arthur already awake and dressed, though it seemed, unable to make his bed. Of course. Marayna had set to work on that while Merlin stood off to the side, talking in hushed tones with Arthur.

"I'm taking Sophia out for a ride today," she heard Arthur say quietly, "You know, show her around."

"Where do I come into this?" Merlin sighed, already dreading the answer.

"Well, I'm supposed to be on patrol with the guard and my father this morning…so, I need you to cover for me."

"You want Merlin to lie to the king?" Marayna cut in, finishing her work and turning to face them, leaning against the bedpost and crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at them.

"No, no way," Merlin agreed, shaking his head furiously, "No, he'll see right through me. He'll have me in the stocks quicker than you can say 'rotten tomatoes!'"

"Merlin," Arthur nearly whined, smiling when that earned a soft laugh from Marayna, "I need you to do this for me."

"He's rubbish at lying," Marayna tried arguing, getting her laugh under control. It was true, for all their magic secret keeping, Merlin really was a terrible liar. She was honestly surprised when she arrived to find that Merlin hadn't been discovered.

"I start sweating," Merlin nodded.

"He goes cross-eyed. And stutters. And gets this odd nervous twitch in his left eye. And..."

"My brain just stops working…" Merlin cut in, trying not to flush at her description of his lying.

"No change there then," Arthur muttered, "Look, I promised Sophia I'd take her out and if I don't turn up, it'll burn my chances."

"You like her, then?" Merlin frowned at him, both dreading this answer, especially with his sister standing right there to hear it, and wondering what it would be...because he (and Gwen, and Morgana, and Gaius, and even the bloody Dragon) were sure Arthur preferred Marayna. So why was he suddenly vying for Sophia's attention?

"Yeah, what's not to like?" Arthur cleared his throat, managing a smile, "I want to spend some more with her, but I need to get my father off my back. I can't order you to lie to the king, but I'll be your friend for life if you do."

Marayna took a breath and made the decision, "So go spend time with her. Leave Uther to us."

Arthur turned to glance at her, smiling, before returning his attention to Merlin long enough to get a quick, "Thanks Merlin, I won't forget this," out before rushing from the room.

Merlin sighed and turned to his sister, only to see her smiling sadly, "What am I supposed to do?" he shook his head at her, "You know how badly I lie."

She smirked at him, "Of course I do. Which is why you won't be the one to lie."

"What?" he blinked, completely at a loss. Arthur had asked him to lie, what was she…and then it hit him, "Aya you can't!"

"Why not?" she shrugged, "Honestly Merlin, do you really believe the king would fall for an excuse of 'I forgot to tell him he was to patrol with the guards' from you, the forgetful one who never tells Arthur the itinerary? Or from me, the one who usually remembers what chores Uther's set for Arthur and tells him? Uther's taken to telling ME what Arthur does, you wouldn't have known what the plan for the day anyway. It has to be me. And besides," she nudged him, "I've always been the better liar," she winked, sticking out her tongue at him.

He gave a small laugh at that but had to sigh again, she did have a point. She usually was the one that Uther focused on when listing the duties for Arthur, the king knew she would most likely remember it and wouldn't expect Merlin to remember instead, "If you're sure," he mumbled hesitantly.

"I am," she nodded, rubbing his back as they walked out of the room.

"You do know he'll probably throw you in the stocks for this."

"It's the least I can do for my brother to take his place in the stocks, especially since you're allergic to tomatoes."

"I am not," he grinned, nudging her.

"Oh really?" she questioned, grinning as well, "So when we were younger and mother gave us tomatoes to eat, and you turned red and itchy, that was what?" she glanced around to make sure they were alone but dropped her voice to be safe, "Your magic reacting to your desire to be a tomato?"

"Oh ha ha," he rolled his eyes, she was always teasing him about that. Though he had to admit, it was rather funny when he turned completely red. The itching hadn't been so much fun though.

They paused outside the Main Hall, staring up at the doors in silence, before Merlin spoke again, "Are you sure about this? You don't have to take the fall just because Arthur's smitten with Sophia."

"I was actually expecting this," she confessed, "Sophia is nobleborn, she's very beautiful, and I'm just a servant."

"You're not just a you said before, there's something off about her. We just have to figure it out before it's too late."

"What if there's nothing wrong with her?" she mumbled, "What if I'm just…jealous…or something?"

Merlin turned to face her, "Are you? Jealous, that is?"

She frowned, "I don't know. I've never really been jealous before," and it was true, they'd lived such a simple life in Ealdor, despite being mere peasants they hadn't felt like they wanted for anything. Even being in court didn't do it for her, she was simple at heart, she didn't need money or fancy dresses or large castles, she didn't covet it, so she never felt jealous of those who had it, "I'm not sure if that is the feeling. I just…she reminds me of what I felt with Nimueh. She's lying about something."

Merlin smiled, "Well, there you go. You weren't jealous of Nimueh, I don't think, and if you feel the same with Sophia as you did with her, then I don't think it's jealousy."

She smiled as well, "Thanks Merlin."

He gave her a half hug, "Not a problem," he glanced at the doors again, "Do you want me to go in with you?"

She shook her head, "I'll be fine," she glanced at him, "Why don't you check on Morgana? And if you see me in the stocks later, I personally invite you to throw fruit at me."

Merlin laughed, "No, that's quite alright. If you do end up in the stocks, I think I'd be the one chasing the villagers away. Sometimes they move onto potatoes."

She shook her head, nudging him till he started off down the hall and waited till he'd turned around the corner before facing the door again. She took a deep breath before entering.

~8~

"You," Uther acknowledged as Marayna stood waiting in the throne room, "Where's my son?" he would have expected her to have told him of his duties by now.

"I apologize, My Lord, but I haven't got the faintest idea," she bowed her head, "There may have been a bit of a mix-up on my part..."

"Where is he?" Uther asked again, his impatience growing.

"He's around somewhere, My Lord," Marayna tried hard to keep the small smile from growing on her face at how much she sounded like the Dragon, a smile that Uther noticed.

His eyes narrowed, realizing she was enjoying this banter, "Where. Is. Arthur?" he demanded now, quite put off by the lack of a straightforward answer.

She looked around the room that just held the two of them, "Clearly not here," she smirked, looking up at him innocently.

Uther had to stare at her a moment, honestly, did she want to be thrown in the dungeons for her insolence? He rolled his eyes, "I can see that," he countered, but...he couldn't help though, but feel a chuckle rising him. He quickly crushed it with his iron fist. Something about that girl…he just couldn't put his finger on it but...for some reason her banter almost amused him.

Almost.

She must have been taking lessons from Morgana about how to push his buttons without completely angering him. Yes, that had to be the case.

"I couldn't remember if the patrol was meant to be in the morning or afternoon," she explained, "I was going to check with the guard, I planned to, I really did, but it just slipped my mind."

"It 'slipped your mind?'" Uther stared at her, a disbelieving tone in his voice. That...to be quite honest...didn't seem like her, not that he noticed what she was like. It was just...SHE was always the one he instructed with Arthur's duties, Lord knew her brother would never remember them.

"I'm sorry, My Lord, I was in a bit of a haste preparing for Lord Aulfric and Lady Sophia and got not much sleep, I fear my mind was elsewhere when you left me with Arthur's duties last night," she bowed her head, "Arthur would likely have been here if I'd managed to check with the guard."

Uther sighed and shook his head at her, "If this was a time of war, I would have you flogged."

She smirked, with almost a...knowing grin, as though she knew, despite his words, that would NEVER happen, "It's just too bad that it's not," she quipped, making him raise an eyebrow in not-amusement, "To the stocks then?"

He could not stop the laugh from escaping him this time and simply shook his head, walking out of the room, mumbling something to the guards. The next thing she knew, she was indeed locked in the stocks.

Oh well, she thought, better this than a flogging. But even at that thought, even as she was being locked into the wooden shackle of shame, she laughed. She doubted Uther would have her flogged after the Urry incident. Besides, it was high time she learned why her brother so loved to end up in the stocks.

~8~

In another part of the castle, Morgana stood at her window, watching as Arthur and Sophia snuck out of the courtyard. There was a knocking on the door, but she made no move to turn.

Gwen sighed and she went to open the door just a crack, enough to see Merlin standing on the other side. She glanced back at Morgana, the woman seemingly lost in thought as she stared out the window, before opening the door more and speaking in hushed tones, "She had another nightmare."

"I know," Merlin whispered back, seeing that Gwen was trying to not disturb Morgana.

"How?" Gwen frowned, confused. She hadn't said anything to anyone and she had been with Morgana since that morning and knew the older woman hadn't left since then.

"Uh…" Merlin began, at a loss, shifting uncomfortably. He doubted Morgana would want people to know that a man often spent the night in her rooms, "Gaius?" Gwen didn't seem to notice the question in his answer and just nodded, "Has she told you what it's about?"

Gwen glanced over her shoulder before leaning in towards Merlin, "Morgana believes she dreamt the Lady Sophia, well, killing Arthur."

Merlin was disheartened for only a moment at the thought that Morgana had told Gwen her dream and not him, but when he realized that Gwen was her closest friend, one she had known since childhood, he felt better, if just a bit. At least she had someone to confide in, he only hoped one day to prove himself worth of her confidence.

The moment of disheartenment didn't last long as he realized just what Gwen had said, "What?"

Oh this was bad. This was very bad. If it wasn't bad enough that Arthur was being a right prat and flaunting his affection for Sophia when Merlin was certain it was Marayna he cared for, now he had to save the prat from said woman who wanted to kill him! To make matters worse, he would have to tell Marayna. When it came to people she cared about, come hell or high water, she would protect them. And she really was quite scary when she was angry.

Gwen sighed, drawing him out of his thoughts, "Morgana's had terrible nightmares before, but this one has her truly scared. And she can't tell Uther because…"

"He'll think it's magic," Merlin nodded.

"Is it?" Gwen whispered to him, careful to keep her voice very low. Given how Merlin and Marayna acted at times, they tried to keep their magic as secret as possible and not speak of it in the open like this. So she tried her best not to bring it up unless the moment really called for it. And this might be one of those times. She still didn't know much about magic, which was understandable given where they were.

Merlin sighed this time, "I don't know," he and Marayna knew that Morgana could see the future, the Dragon had mentioned it, but whether or not she actually HAD magic...that was another thing, and until he knew, he didn't want to say it to Gwen, incase she mentioned it to Morgana, "If it is, it's not something I know much about."

"It's just that…" Gwen paused, "Some of the dreams Morgana's told me of, well...they've come to pass."

He nodded to himself, "I'll ask Gaius about it."

"Thank you," Gwen whispered, before gently shutting the door and returning to her Lady's side.

~8~

Merlin couldn't help but laugh to himself as he helped his sister make her way to Gaius's chambers. He had left Morgana's room, deep in thought and ended up wandering around the castle until he heard cheering in the courtyard. He'd ventured down only to see that his sister had indeed landed herself in the stocks. He could admit he laughed a little at seeing her stuck there, her long hair having come out of a tie she'd tried to use and falling over her face, all of it littered with the remains of various fruits and vegetables, though his laughter died when he saw a few young boys throwing the dreaded potatoes at her.

He was about to stride up to them when one of the guards came down and released her from the stocks. Recalling how stiff his back had been after being locked in there, and how disoriented he felt from being pelted, he quickly made his way to her side and guided her back to the castle.

"Have you been playing with your food again?" Gaius asked, smirking as they entered the room.

"Uther sent me to the stocks," Marayna replied, walking over to a basin and combing her fingers through her hair in an effort to get the chunks of tomatoes and strings of lettuce out.

"What on earth did you do?" Gaius inquired, standing up, Uther was never one to put a woman in the stocks unless absolutely necessary

"Asked for it," she answered, grimacing at a chunk of particularly rotten tomato.

"Honestly, it wasn't her fault," Merlin added, "Arthur wanted to get out of going on patrol with Uther and the guard so Aya covered for him and took the blame."

"And Arthur was prepared to let you do this?" Gaius sounded utterly bewildered at that.

"Like he wasn't the one who asked us to lie in the first place," Marayna mumbled.

"Well, actually he asked me to do it," Merlin corrected as he went to help his sister. It had been terrible getting the fruit out of his hair and hers was three times as long at least, "Aya was covering for me because I'm apparently a worse liar than she is."

"Well, what made him neglect his duties?" Gaius continued, shaking his head at the young prince's disregard for his responsibilities, Arthur had always been a very reliable boy, "It must've been something terribly important."

"Sophia," Marayna grumbled from beneath a curtain of hair.

"The girl from the forest?"

"Yes," Merlin confirmed, frowning as he thought on the humiliation his sister had to suffer just to protect the prince's secret, "He wanted to take her out for the day. He is besotted."

"But they've only just met!"

"We know!"

"Yes," Marayna mumbled quietly, "Love at first sight I guess."

"Yes, I suppose it must be," Gaius sighed.

Suddenly Marayna trembled, hunching over more by the basin, her one hand clutching her chest as the other grabbed the edge of the basin with white knuckles. She breathed heavily for a moment or two as the pinch she'd felt in her chest earlier came back twice as strong and lasted twice as long.

'Are you alright?' Merlin asked her silently so as not to alert Gaius, who was lost in thought.

She took a few breaths before nodding, 'Fine.'

'Aya what's going on?' he was really worried, this was the second time he knew of where she was physically affected by the pinch. His mind wandered to a hundred causes for it that could mean bad news for his sister, from physical ailment to magic.

She simply shook her head, straightening and getting back to her hair as the pain passed, using it as a distraction. Whether it was her not wanting to talk about it or her way of saying she didn't know, he wasn't sure. But he made no comment. If it was something serious, she would tell him...wouldn't she?

~8~

About an hour later Morgana glared out the window as she spotted Arthur and Sophia returning from their ride. She could have sworn she saw red when the wench, as Morgana liked to think of her, kissed Arthur on the cheek. Arthur seemed rather dazed by the action, something Morgana found unnatural from Arthur when not directed at the retreating form of Marayna. Spinning quickly on her heel, Morgana strode out of the room determined to talk and/or smack some sense into the prince.

She flinched back when she reached the stairs and nearly ran into the wench who was making her way up.

"Sorry!" the girl exclaimed, her eyes widening in realization, "Lady Morgana isn't it? I'm Sophia," she held out her hand, but Morgana just glared at it.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"My father and I are guests of the king..."

"You're lying," she stated quickly, no doubt at all in her voice, "I know what you're going to do to him and I won't let it happen."

Sophia simply smirked as she gazed up at the noblewoman, "Does Arthur know you feel this way about him?" but she shook her head sorrowfully before Morgana could answer, "Of course he does. I suspect he's already turned you down."

Morgana set her jaw, "Don't think you can make a fool out of me."

"I don't have to. You're managing to do that well enough already."

"Stay away from him," Morgana threatened, not just for her but for Marayna as well. She would let nothing keep that dream she'd had from before Marayna's arrival from coming to pass.

"Or what?" Sophia laughed, "Jealousy is such an unattractive trait in a woman."

Morgana smirked at that, confusing the younger woman, "Trust me, when it comes to Arthur's heart, it is not me you have to worry about," Sophia opened her mouth to comment, but Morgana continued, her smirk turning into a glare, her words taking on a tone of promise, "If anything happens to Arthur…I'll find you. However long it takes," she brushed past the woman and continued down the stairs to find Arthur.

Sophia glared at the woman before stomping up the stairs towards her room. She stormed down the hallway, nearly running into Marayna, who was carrying fresh linens for Arthur's room.

"Are you well my Lady?" Marayna asked, causing the woman to stop and glance over her shoulder at the servant, "You look a bit…blue."

Sophia's eyes widened at the knowing look on the girl's face. She knew the servant didn't know what she meant by the statement, but the look in her eyes promised that she would soon find out. She simply nodded and strode into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"You'd not been gone as long as I expected," Aulfric commented as his daughter walked into the room.

"We were interrupted," she answered, tensely.

"What happened?" he asked, concern in his voice, though if it was for her or for their mission neither knew.

"I was nearly killed," she shouted, spinning to face him. Indeed she nearly had been. She and Arthur had been shot at earlier when the guards thought they were bandits in the woods. She'd almost died from an arrow…had Arthur not pushed her out of the way, "For a moment I felt what it would be like to die a mortal death," she spat out as rage consumed her, "He saved me. Someone so weak, so feeble saved me. I can't bear to be like this a moment longer."

"You won't have to," her father reassured her, "Once his heart is yours, the gates of Avalon will open once again for us and we can regain our true form."

"I need a little more time," she replied, breathing more calmly, comforted by her father's words.

"You must hurry. The physician can see us for what we truly are."

"And he is not alone," she added in thought, "The Lady Morgana, she fears her powers, but that will not keep her quiet for long," she hesitated, "And the servant, Marayna, she knows we are not what we appear, but I am certain she knows not what…yet."

"Tomorrow you have to finish the enchantment otherwise our chance to rid us of these mortal shells will be lost forever," Aulfric decided as Sophia just nodded.

~8~

The next morning, Merlin and Marayna were just entering Arthur's chambers when Arthur walked out from his changing screen, fully dressed again.

"You're dressed," Merlin exclaimed, eyes nearly bugging out of his head. He'd thought the day before was just a pleasant mistake and that today he'd be back to having to dress the prince. It seemed not so.

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Merlin?" Arthur laughed, glancing at Marayna only for her to look away, making him frown.

Marayna sighed as she felt Arthur's eyes on her, she ran a hand through her hair, still feeling a bit of tomatoy substance lingering there and already knowing where the day would lead, but deciding to try her luck anyway, "Arthur, you need to wear this," she held up a decorated tunic, "Remember? There's a new knighting this morning?"

"I'm giving it a miss," he smiled.

"Won't the king mind?" Merlin brought up, moving to take the clothes from his sister so she could get to making the bed.

"Not if you cover for me again," Arthur nodded at him, "By the way, thanks for yesterday. I heard you ended up in the stocks. Bad luck."

Clearly he had only been told that one of his servants had ended up in the stocks and not that Marayna had. Merlin was about to correct him when he saw his sister shaking her head at him from the bed behind Arthur.

"They were throwing potatoes," she commented quietly, "It's only supposed to be rotten fruit," she had a rather nasty bruise on her arm from one particularly vicious throw.

"I'm not sure there are any hard and fast rules," Arthur glanced over his shoulder at her before focusing back on Merlin, "But if it's any consolation, I think it was worth it."

Merlin bit his tongue at going off on the prince about how his sister had been practically battered at his expense, but took a breath and said, "It went well?" instead.

"Great," Arthur breathed, a dreamy quality in his voice, "Fantastic. She's incredible."

Merlin nearly laughed at his sister mock gagging behind Arthur's back, but said nothing, "Don't worry then," he sighed, "I'll find a way to get you out of it."

And he meant it, this time it would be him in the stocks.

"Just make sure you don't end up in the stocks this time," Arthur laughed, patting him on the back before leaving the room.

"He won't," Marayna called after him, meaningfully, rounding on her brother with a warning finger, 'Don't even start Merlin.'

'Aya, you were in the stocks yesterday,' he rolled his eyes, 'It's MY turn.'

'And how many times were you in the stocks before I got here?' she shot back. He was silent, 'That's what I thought. Besides, there's nothing to say I'll end up in the stocks again.'

~8~

Unfortunately for Marayna, Uther seemed to be getting some sort of sick pleasure out of condemning her to the stocks. She made the most out of it though, starting up a game with the children where she tried to catch the less rotten fruit in her mouth. Merlin had gone with her and wandered through the crowd that gathered to toss fruit at her, plucking the potatoes out of the hands of young boys who were about to peg her with it. An hour or two after he'd arrived the guard finally released her and Merlin helped her back to the castle, he scolded her on the way saying they were even now.

She had just laughed and negotiated, no more stocks for either of them.

"Not again, Rayna, surely" Gaius sighed as they entered his chambers, heading over to the basin and proceeding to pick the chunks of fruit out of her hair again.

"Seems like throwing fruit at the same person twice in a row won't ever get old," Marayna replied sarcastically.

"I heard that Arthur wasn't at the Knighting ceremony."

"Yes, he wanted to make the most of his time left with Sophia," Merlin sneered, wincing as he tugged on a strand of his sister's hair in an effort to get some sort of sticky substance off of it and made her wince.

"So you helped him?" Gaius looked at his niece, seeing her peer up at him through her hair.

"Arthur must be thrilled his servants are actually starting to do as he says," she shrugged, sighing a bit.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Gaius exclaimed, "I fear that Sophia may not be all that she seems."

"Why?" Merlin asked, finally giving up and muttering a quick "Afeormian," as all the fruit and vegetables fell from Marayna's hair.

"What do you know about Seers?" Gaius answered with a question of his own.

"Probably as much as you think we know," Marayna stood, brushing a few fingers through her hair to comb it out, Merlin may have cleaned it but it was still tangled from the wind and fruit.

"So nothing then?" he joked.

"Sounds about right."

"They're supposed to be able to see the future, like prophets," Merlin supplied.

"It's said to be an innate ability," Gaius explained, "Those who have it are born that way. Some aren't even aware that what they see is the future, it comes to them in their dreams."

Merlin nodded to himself, that was Morgana alright.

"What, is Sophia a Seer too?" Marayna shook her head, not seeing what that had to do with anything.

"No, she's not," Gaius sighed, "But...the night before Sophia and Aulfric came to Camelot, Morgana had a dream."

"Sophia was in it, wasn't she?" Merlin continued before glancing at his sister, realizing that Morgana must have told Gaius when she'd come to see him earlier, 'She saw Sophia kill Arthur.'

Marayna sighed, 'Don't his enemies ever get tired of trying to kill the same person?'

"I've been watching Morgana since she was very young," Gaius added, reminding his niece and nephew that they hadn't quite told him they already knew about Morgana's visions, "And though I've tried to persuade myself otherwise, I realize that some of the things she said she dreamt...came to pass. I kept it secret from Uther, of course. The gift of prophecy is too close to the work of magic."

"Um, uncle...we actually know Morgana's a Seer already," Marayna brought up.

"It would certainly explain her dreams," Merlin muttered to her.

Gaius shook his head, not bothering to ask how they knew as there was a more pressing matter to see to at the moment, "Morgana said she dreamt that Sophia killed Arthur."

"Could that have just been a dream?" Merlin asked, nearly desperate, not wanting his sister to fear for Arthur, "Maybe the woman Morgana saw just looked like Sophia?"

"That's what I hoped, but Aulfric caught me in Sophia's room and, under a flash of anger, his eyes changed color."

"Who are they?" Merlin wondered out loud.

"What are they?" Marayna mumbled quietly, thinking about the blue skin she kept seeing.

"It's not who or what they are that worries me," Gaius cut in, "It's what they want with Arthur."

"Ah!" Marayna doubled over suddenly, her hands clutching her chest as fierce pain shot through her. A brief image flashed across her mind of Arthur standing in the woods with Sophia, making her feel like she was standing right there beside him, watching as the girl's eyes glowed red, turning Arthur's red as well, the boy leaning down towards her, and...

...then she was back in Gaius's chambers, her brother at her side, coaxing her to sit down as Gaius examined her.

"What is it Marayna?" he asked, looking her over, but unable to see any exterior sign of harm.

"It's nothing," she bit out, the pain lessening just slightly, but still present.

"It's not nothing," Merlin said sternly before turning to their uncle, "She's had this pain at least twice before, but never this bad."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gaius demanded of her, handing her a potion. It wasn't much, just something to dull the pain as he wasn't sure where it was coming from.

Marayna downed it quickly, grimacing at the taste, "I didn't want to worry you."

"Do you know why this is happening?" Merlin looked at Gaius, who looked as troubled as Merlin felt.

Gaius shook his head, "How do you feel?" he turned to her, seeing her calming down slightly.

"Better," she answered, the pain was gone, but now it was more of a lingering, subtle throb in her chest. She sighed, "I don't know why it's happening..."

Gaius sighed, there was nothing he could really do till they knew what was happening and he doubted she would let him examine her till the danger had passed. With their luck, it would be something to do with magic and he'd not be able to help even more. He stood and looked at Merlin, "If this happens again, you tell me," he ordered.

Merlin nodded briefly before returning his attention to his sister and rubbing her back, trying to comfort her.

~8~

A couple hours later, just after dinner, Merlin had gotten word from Gwen that Arthur had returned from his day with Sophia. He was about to go out and check on the prince by himself but his sister would have none of that. It only took a quick 'I'm not an invalid Merlin' and her striding past him with purpose to get him trotting after her.

Marayna came to a sudden halt in the hallway, her brother nearly plowing in to the back of her and about to ask why she stopped, when a voice reached them.

"He's ready," they heard Sophia say. They leaned forward and peered around the corner to see Aulfric and Sophia talking outside her room, "Tomorrow he'll do what we need him to."

"Good, you have done well," Aulfric smiled proudly at his daughter, before walking off down the hall, "I must go to the elders."

Sophia nodded and returned to her room. As soon as the door was shut behind her, Merlin and Marayna bolted down the hall after Aulfric. They managed to catch up to him and follow him through the forests until he came to a lake. How they managed to do so in the dark, in a forest, without tripping or getting hit by branches and other things was unknown to them. They pressed themselves against a tree, looking around either side of it to observe him just standing there.

'What's he doing?' Marayna asked.

'No idea,' Merlin replied.

Their questions were answered soon enough as Aulfric began to shout into the wind, "I seek an audience with the Sidhe Elders," he lifted his staff before chanting, "Dotiag-sa ar idbairt do denam!"

All of a sudden, a handful of blue lights shot out of the water and began buzzing around the air.

'I can't make it out,' Merlin commented, his gaze shooting this way and that trying to catch a glimpse of the lights.

Marayna frowned and focused on the scene before her, trying to take a leaf out of her brother's book as her eyes flashed gold. A few moments later, everything seemed to slow down, the wind, the ripples of the water, and more importantly, the lights which they could now see were blue fairy-like creatures.

'Merlin look!' she whispered in awe, drawing his attention to a beautiful city they could make out in the water instead.

"I come before you to plead for the chance to win passage back to Avalon and a life of immortality!" they heard Aulfric call, drawing their attention back to the man.

One of the fairies flitted down before him, "Your punishment for killing another Sidhe is a mortal body and a mortal life," he reminded the older man, "You will never be able to return to Avalon!"

"The crime was mine, not my daughter's," Aulfric nearly begged.

"The gates of Avalon remain closed to your daughter," the fairy spat coldly, "Unless the soul of a mortal prince be offered up to them."

"Thank you," Aulfric smiled, "An immortal life for my daughter is all that I desire. So, I promise you the soul of the greatest prince of all, Arthur Pendragon!"

Merlin heard his sister gasp and looked down to see her staring, horrified, at the older man, at least two shades paler.

'Breathe!' he commanded when he noticed that she didn't seem to be breathing.

She took a deep breath and looked up at her brother. She didn't need to say anything at all for him to understand. Her fear, her anger, her shock, her desperation, her worry, and her hopelessness...he could see it all reflected in her look. He had no idea when Arthur had become so important to her that she actually felt scared to know others were out for his life, though he could guess it was after Richard had left, he HAD noticed a small shift between her and Arthur, like a new understanding and appreciation for the other had been reached. When they had thought Sophia and Aulfric mere mortals out for his life, perhaps with a bit of magic, that was one thing. To find out they were another species, one they knew next to nothing about, that was more worrying.

'We'll save him Aya,' he assured, reaching out to grab her hand, 'I promise.'

'Merlin!' she gasped, pulling him over the side of the tree just as Aulfric turned. Merlin held his sister tight, both pressed against the tree hoping they hadn't been caught. Marayna glanced around the trunk to see that Aulfric had turned back to the lake for only a moment before squeezing Merlin's hand and pulling him away, half-dragging him back to the castle.

~8~

They burst into Gaius's chambers just as the sun had started to rise, seeing Gwen falling asleep on a cot and Gaius sitting awake by his books. However, the slamming of the door against the wall seemed to shake Gwen awake as she shot up, looking around, confused for a moment, before calming as she saw it was just them. They had requested Gwen stay with Gaius after she told them Arthur returned for fear of her safety.

They quickly set about telling Gaius everything that had happened, everything they saw and heard, hoping he might be able to shed some light on the rather confusing events.

Gaius just stared at them in shock for most of it though, "Avalon," he breathed, "What you saw at the lake, it's Avalon, it must be."

"And Avalon is..." Marayna asked, shaking her head, she felt like she'd heard of it before, but couldn't recall where.

"The land of eternal youth. Mortals are only supposed to glimpse it the moment before death."

"Well, we've seen it and we're still here," Merlin held out his arms in proof.

"You saw it?" Gwen's eyes widened, as a little girl she'd heard stories of Avalon. It was said to be just...beautiful, the most magnificent sight. It was meant to be that way to welcome those who died, to make them feel comfortable and awed instead of frightened and in pain. There probably wasn't a soul in Camelot who didn't wonder what the place looked like.

"What does it look like?" Gaius inquired, looking wistful and confirming Gwen's thoughts.

"Does it matter?" Merlin stared at him incredulously.

"It looks like the place where Arthur will be sacrificed!" Marayna nearly yelled.

"We don't even know who they are yet."

"We do now," Gaius nodded, signaling Gwen to bring over one of his books. She did so, holding it open for him to search through, "I found writing like this on top of Aulfric's staff. It's an ancient script, it means 'to hold life and death in your hands.' And the writing on his staff and what you saw at the lake, I'm afraid I'm now certain. We're dealing with a Sidhe."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing," Merlin commented.

"They're masters of enchantment," Marayna uttered, reading that excerpt from the book over her uncle's shoulder, as though it explained everything. She didn't know whether to be relieved that Arthur was just enchanted and not really in love with Sophia...or terrified that he was enchanted to be in love with Sophia.

"You think Arthur's been enchanted?" Gwen frowned, looking up at them. The book was written in an old language she couldn't read, but apparently they could. It would explain quite a few things though, like Arthur's sudden interest in Sophia when he'd been besotted with Marayna what felt like only moments before.

"Oh, most certainly," Gaius nodded, before sighing, "I'm afraid Morgana's dream is coming true."

~8~

Midday Gaius, Marayna, and Merlin had been called to court by Arthur and arrived to see the prince standing before the king with Sophia at his side. They quietly made their way to their typical spot, by the wall near the throne, to watch the proceedings.

"I requested this audience, father, to discuss a matter of great importance," Arthur began, his head held high, "It cannot have escaped your attention that I and Lady Sophia Tia Moor have grown very close."

"Not too close, I hope," Uther mumbled and Marayna almost snorted at that, even Uther didn't like the girl...but then again that wasn't saying much as Uther didn't particularly like anyone really.

"We're in love," Arthur stated firmly, glaring slightly at his father for insulting the woman who apparently held his heart, "Which is why I come before you today…to ask your permission to marry."

Marayna's heart stopped, her blood froze, her breathing stilled…her brother took her hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. She glanced at him, snapping out of it and smiling gratefully at him for it. She nodded, she was fine, and turned her attention back to the goings-on only to notice that Uther was laughing.

"I assume you're joking," the king smiled.

"No," Arthur shook his head, "I'm going to marry her."

This time it hurt much less to hear that said. Marayna swallowed hard but held her head up high, her jaw set, eyes gazing across the room at the wall, her face an unreadable mask. She couldn't be affected by this, not openly. If anyone looked at her and saw her that devastated or weepy or whatever it was that women were when something like that happened, they'd realize her feelings for Arthur, and that was the LAST thing she wanted. She rather liked her head on her neck thank you.

"You only met two days ago," Uther scoffed, sounding as though the entire thing was ridiculous, which it really was.

"We're in love," Arthur stated matter-of-factly, no doubt at all in his voice.

"In love," Uther sneered, not believing a word his son was saying, he turned to Morgana who sat next to him, "We had no idea that you were such the romantic, had we Morgana?"

Morgana, who had been focused on Marayna, shook out of her thoughts and glanced at the king for only a moment before looking back at her friend, and murmuring, "No, he's full of surprises."

Uther, noticing his ward's gaze, turned to glance at the young servant as well. She was standing there, back straight, shoulders back, head high, as proud looking as if she were noble. His brow furrowed minutely as he looked upon her, he wondered if his son even knew the pains she had gone through for him, if he saw the pain he was putting the young woman through just by standing there pledging himself to another. He was not blind, nor was he suffering a mental affliction. He could tell that the girl cared for his son a great deal and that she was hurt enormously by this entire thing. Even if nothing could come of it, he could still see she was affected by it. Not that he blamed her, he had been quite the rugged youth, charming, had many women falling in love with him, it seemed Arthur had inherited the same charm. He did want that for his son though, he wanted for the people in general to love him and to be able to welcome him as their king when the time came.

He shook his head slightly as he was hit by a similar notion to when he'd spoken with the girl after she'd helped protect Aurora from Sir Urry...seeing her standing there, so proud, sad, but proud, he couldn't help but think that she would have made a fine queen if she'd been born of a different station.

"I'm going to marry her," Arthur's voice drew him back to the matter at hand, "I don't care what either of you think about it."

"I thought you'd come to ask my permission," Uther uttered tersely, his fist clenching unconsciously.

"Out of courtesy, nothing more," Arthur stated, before taking Sophia's hand and turning to leave.

"Guards, door," Uther ordered calmly, sounding more as though he were talking about the weather than locking his son in. There was something about the proud, smug look Sophia was wearing that rubbed him the wrong way. He stood from his throne and took a step towards his son, "You've forgotten whose court you're standing in."

"You can't stop me," Arthur declared, challenge in his voice, "If I want to marry her, I will."

Uther nodded, oh he couldn't stop him could he? Never challenge a Pendragon. He glanced at the guards once more, nonchalantly giving the order, "Arrest Sophia and Aulfric Tia Moor."

"What are you doing?!" Arthur demanded, dropping his hold on Sophia's arm and striding to his father.

Uther turned to his son, his expression hardening, "And inform the executioner his services will be required tomorrow morning."

"You can't do this!"

"Yes I can and, unless you show me some respect, I will," Uther replied emotionlessly. It would not matter to him in the slightest if the girl and her father died, while nobles they were of a minor class and with their home sacked, it wasn't like a war would start.

Marayna sighed at that, no matter how little she cared for Sophia or her father...it didn't sit right with her to hear Uther talking so easily about executing them for 'falling in love' with Arthur. Had it been because he knew Sophia was truly a Sidhe and plotting to murder his son, THEN she'd be perfectly fine with all that talk.

Arthur glared at him a moment, trying in vain to stare him down, but found he could not. Instead, he bowed his head in submission.

Uther nodded to himself, "Release them," he called out, looking behind Arthur for a moment before gazing at him sternly, "You've got your whole life ahead of you. Sophia is, no doubt, your first love..."

Arthur felt a little pang in his chest and couldn't shake the feeling that...that was wrong. His father was wrong. Sophia wasn't his fir…but the thought was soon lost somewhere in his mind.

"But she certainly won't be the only one," he heard Uther continue, "Enjoy yourself while you can."

~8~

Morgana had rushed off to try and talk some sense into Uther, try to stress the importance of the situation and in keeping Arthur and Sophia truly separated. It was clear that she was upset, which only served to upset Merlin as well. Marayna took a breath, watching as Arthur left the room with Sophia before she turned to her brother, "Go after her," she whispered to him, "I'll keep an eye on Arthur."

"Aya…" Merlin began, but she cut him off.

"I'm just going to watch," she rolled her eyes with a smile, "If he does anything, I'll come find you. Yeah?"

Merlin glanced up at the door that Morgana and the king had disappeared through before nodding and quickly walking out of the room.

"You're not going to do nothing are you," Gaius remarked, more of a statement than a question. He knew his niece all too well. He suspected Merlin knew this too, but was hoping Marayna could take care of herself long enough for him to check on Morgana.

"No, I'm not," she answered, turning to smile at her uncle, squeezing his hand before quietly leaving the hall and making her way to follow Arthur. Unfortunately he disappeared into Sophia's room. So Marayna stood in the hall, prepared to hide behind a tapestry should Arthur leave so she could follow him again.

~8~

Marayna hesitated in the doorway for a moment as she observed Arthur, dressed in his armor and packing away a few clothes and possessions. She had seen him leave Sophia's room a few moments ago and hid until she heard him enter his room. She ran to his door and could hear metal rattling around, a sure sign he was putting on his armor and by himself no less. In any other situation she would have been shocked, but now was not the time (though she was determined to point that out next time Arthur wanted her or Merlin to dress him in it). She took a breath before stepping into the room.

Hearing the door creak shut, Arthur glanced up, his happy smile at the thought of it being Sophia fell into a glare when he saw it was just Marayna, "Get out," he snapped.

"I'm sorry the king wanted to murder your fiancé," she commented bluntly though smiling tentatively as she walked up to him. She knew how angry Arthur could get, especially now that he was basically being controlled by someone else…she didn't want to say she feared him. She didn't, but she DID feel a bit wary about what could happen. He clearly wasn't himself at the moment.

"I don't need sympathy Marayna," he spat, not noticing her flinch at the use of her full name. He never used her full name unless he was teasing her. It sounded wrong to hear him use it in such a tone...and that made her wonder when exactly did she get so used to hearing him call her 'Mara?' "And especially not from you."

"You've got to admit he has a point though," she stated, squaring her shoulders and glaring at him as well. Controlled or not, he was being a right prick at the moment and she wasn't going to let him keep at it.

"I ordered you to get out, now leave me," he demanded, continuing his packing.

"Yes, because I'm oh-so good at following orders," she remarked dryly, before she sighed, "Look, I get that you think you're in love with Sophia and that you think the best option is to marry her..."

"Who are you to tell me what I'm thinking?" he nearly shouted at her.

"I would like to think I'm your friend when you're not being a royal prat," she stared him down. She had a whole repertoire of FAR more sarcastic comebacks about who she could be to order him around, but now was not the time for that, she was certain.

"No, you're just my servant," he sneered, glaring at her with hate, as though it would be enough to scare her away.

She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow, "Your glares don't scare me Arthur."

"How dare you address me so informally?" he raged at her, stopping in his packing and standing at full height.

Marayna set her jaw and strode up to him, "How dare you address me as Mara when my name is Marayna," she countered, poking him in the chest, forcing him to take a few steps back as well, "You think you love Sophia fine. But I am telling you right now Arthur it's nothing more than an enchantment."

"I told you people would try to keep us apart," a voice said behind her, making Marayna stiffen and turn slightly to see Sophia and Aulfric entering the room.

"I know," Arthur replied softly as he gazed at her, before hardening, "I won't let that happen."

"Since when do YOU actually listen to anyone?" Marayna rounded to face him again, putting her back to her enemy which she was sure was a very stupid thing to do which she would probably get lectured by Gaius about later when it came back to bite her, but right now she couldn't care less, "Oh gee, I don't now, maybe when you're being controlled!"

"We can elope together," Sophia murmured, smiling at Arthur, "Get away from this place, these people."

"You mean these HUMANS," Marayna turned on them, anger clearly evident in her voice, "We saw you, Merlin and I, we followed father dearest to the lake. We saw your little meeting," she sneered at Aulfric, before looking at Arthur again, "They're planning on sacrificing you Arthur."

Aulfric glared at her, "Do you let your servants talk to your guests this way?"

"Oh please," Marayna scoffed, "You're hardly guests when you're an inch away from the executioner's block," she was fairly certain this too would come back to bite her severely, speaking so to a noble, even one of a minor station, but when she really got going she tended to care even less than she normally did about what she said around others, "Merlin and I heard everything you said," she told Aulfric, before turning to Arthur, a desperation she had never before felt shining in her eyes, "Arthur...please believe me," she felt her hope rise as Arthur stared at her, the fog in his eyes clearing minutely.

"Don't listen to them, Arthur," Sophia's voice called to him and Marayna could see the dazedness setting in again, "Let's go, let's leave tonight."

"She'll kill you," she whispered, reaching out to grasp his arm. Arthur looked down at her hand but made no move to slap it away, which she took as a good sign, "She'll kill you in a heartbeat so she can be immortal again. You leave with her, you WILL die."

"It doesn't make sense," Arthur shook his head, looking around, almost seeming confused, as though he were waking from a dream or something, "We're in love."

"They're using magic," Marayna insisted, realizing she was starting to break through to him. She turned to the enemy, "The writing on Aulfric's staff is like an incantation..." she made a move to grab it out of Aulfric's hand but he pulled back, his eyes turning red. Marayna's eyes widened, nearly laughing at the proof, "Do you see his eyes?" she asked, her gaze on Aulfric's still red eyes, "Arthur? Do you see them? Do you believe me? Arthur..." she turned to look at him...only to see Arthur glaring at her, his own eyes red as blood.

"I see everything," he answered before taking a step towards her, "You want to stop me and Sophia being together!"

Marayna tried to side step him and grab the staff, thinking perhaps if she could break it it would also break the enchantment...but Arthur reached out and grabbed her arm in a bruising hold, slamming her into the wall behind him to stop her. She struggled in his hold, fighting against him as his hands move to her shoulders for leverage and control. It only made her fight harder and, just when she thought it couldn't possibly get worse...she felt Arthur's hands wrap around her neck.

"Arthur!" she gasped before she felt her air being cut off. She struggled and squirmed, trying to break free. She never thought this would happen, enchantment or not, she hadn't ever thought Arthur would do this...

But this wasn't Arthur was it? It was the Arthur Sophia was controlling, and Sophia clearly wanted her out of the picture rather badly. Perhaps she should have waited for Merlin.

Black spots started to dance around her vision as she felt herself become more and more light-headed, "Please," she whispered, just realizing that tears were beginning to fall from her eyes.

A moment later, the world went black...

~8~

Gaius was pacing around his chambers as Merlin sat watching him. He'd just come from Morgana's room. She had complained to the king and nearly revealed her secret about her dream, but stopped at the last moment before storming off to her rooms. Merlin had followed after her and spent a while trying to calm her down. The sun was just starting to set when he returned to the physician's chambers to wait for his sister. He truly hoped she was in fact just keeping an eye on Arthur and not slapping him around a bit to try and knock some sense into him. He wouldn't put it past her. It was now evening, the sun had set and all was dark. When suddenly Morgana ran into the room, tears in her eyes.

"Morgana!" Merlin shot up from his seat and made his way over to her.

"He's gone!" she cried, "Arthur's gone with her. She's taken him!"

Merlin, realizing that something horrible must have happened to his sister for her not to alert him to this herself, ran out of the room. The last thing he heard was Gaius telling Morgana to slow down and explain but he couldn't think on that. As much as he wanted to be in there with Morgana, soothing her himself, his sister was out there, possibly in danger and he needed to find her. His first thought was to run to the stables, he didn't know if Arthur had left by horse, and if he had, his sister might be there as well trying to get another ready to go after her. But when he saw nothing of her, he realized she must still be in Arthur's room.

He raced back to the castle, slamming open the prince's door...only to see his sister lying crumpled on the floor, unconscious...and unmoving.

"Aya!" he cried, rushing to her side and grabbing her shoulders to shake her, his jostling slowly waking her up.

"Good heavens!" another voice gasped. Merlin glanced over his shoulder to see Gaius standing in the doorway for only a moment before he made his way to Marayna's other side, "What happened to you?" he asked Marayna calmly, trying to look her over. She blearily opened her eyes and, upon seeing her brother and uncle, reached up to push some of her hair over her shoulder to hang in front of her. Merlin stared at her for a moment, confused by her actions when she spoke.

"A…Aulfric," she answered, not looking her brother in the eye as she sat up on her elbows and looked around, "Where's Arthur?" but, seeing the look on her brother's face, she realized what happened, "We need to stop him!" she tried to sit up more when a strange sound filtered through her ears, "Is there a bee buzzing in here?"

"Careful!" Merlin exclaimed as she tried to get up, reaching down to help her slowly stand.

"You can barely stand up!" Gaius commented, helping her as well.

"We NEED to stop him," she insisted, looking to her brother meaningfully.

"You can't, not in this state. You owe it to your powers, that you survived this at all!" he gave her a pointed, serious look.

"I'm fine," she waved him off, looking away and hoping Gaius wouldn't say more about what he thought happened, before turning to her brother, "Sophia's got control of him. We need to help him!"

"Has that buzzing stopped?" Gaius deadpanned.

"Just about," she lied through her teeth, wincing as her uncle felt behind her head at the bump from being slammed against the wall.

"Liar."

"We have to go Gaius," Merlin cut in, realizing the seriousness of the situation now that his sister was ok, "He'll die if we don't."

Gaius looked between the two, knowing that he could trust Merlin to take care of her, but not happy about her going out injured, "The Sidhe are a vicious people, you must be careful."

"Don't you trust us uncle?" Marayna smiled, moving to walk towards the doors but ending up stumbling more towards the windows, though Merlin's hold on her arm stopped her.

"This way," he whispered softly, pulling her towards the door.

"Right," Marayna winced, her voice starting to get a bit sore, and knowing Gaius was sighing and shaking his head as he watched them go.

~8~

Marayna sighed in relief as she felt her head clearing up while she ran with her brother to the lake. They arrived just within sight of it in time to see Sophia push Arthur into the lake.

"Ahh!" Marayna groaned, crumpling to the forest floor, desperately clutching her chest. The pain was nearly unbearable! It was just...shooting through her with every beat of her heart. It felt like she couldn't breath, her head was exploding in pain, and her entire body was tingly and not in a good way. Her vision was starting to blur and she knew it had nothing to do with what she'd endured at Arthur's hands.

"Aya!" Merlin shouted, kneeling beside her, terrified. She was breathing heavily, gasping for breath, tears were streaming from her eyes and she was shaking terribly, "What's wrong?"

"The…enchantment," she whimpered, scrunching her eyes as another wave of pain hit her, "When…she enchants him…it hurts!" she wasn't sure if it was entirely right but it was the only thing that made sense to her in her head. She got the feeling that all the little pinches had been Sophia's attempts to enchant him, the worse the pain the stronger and more complete the enchantment became.

Seeing that her brother wasn't going to realize Arthur was currently drowning in the lake as they spoke, she quickly grabbed his hand, "Save Arthur!"

"But…" he began, but she shook her head furiously.

"Stop Sophia and it'll stop!"

Realizing what she was saying, Merlin quickly stood and turned to face the lake. Seeing Sophia's own staff laying on the ground he quickly called out, "Onbregdan!"

The staff flew to his hand and he tucked it under his arm, pointing it at Aulfric's back, "Swilte, gold beor!"

A moment later, Aulfric exploded as the light and magic from the staff struck him, drawing Sophia's attention, "Father!" she cried, abandoning her spot in the water to make her way to her father's remains.

Merlin turned the staff on her, "Acwele!" and dropped it the moment Sophia was taken care of as well, before he turned to his sister. She seemed to be breathing easier and was sitting straighter as though a vice had been removed from her heart.

"Ay…" he began.

"Arthur!" she just pointed to the water.

Realizing Arthur had been under for a good minute now, Merlin ran to the lake side as his sister began to rise, and jumped in, "Arthur!" he shouted, splashing around, trying to find the prince. When he couldn't he dove under the water.

Marayna collapsed to her knees on the edge of the lake just as her brother burst from the water, Arthur clutched in his arms. He began to drag the boy to the shore, his sister crawling towards the water to help him.

"Are you alright?" she asked shakily.

Merlin nearly laughed, "Am I alright?! Are you alright?" she nodded for a moment before she found herself crushed in her brother's arms, "If something is ever wrong again, you tell me," he commanded softly. She could only nod and snuggle into her brother's embrace, enjoying the moment before they would have to drag the boy back to the castle.

~8~

The next morning Arthur groaned as he moved on his bed. Gaius, Merlin, and Marayna looked at each other for a moment before Arthur began to really wake up.

"Arthur?" Marayna asked softly.

"What happened?" he mumbled, blearily opening his eyes, "Where am I?"

"Can you remember anything?" Merlin inquired.

"Uh…oh, my head…there was a girl," he rubbed his head, "Sophia…she…I asked my father something about her, I asked him…" he trailed off before shooting up a moment later, "What was I thinking? "

Gaius, Merlin, and Marayna looked at each other, smirking.

"Well, love does make fools of us," Marayna began.

"Which was proven when you eloped with her last night," Merlin finished.

"I did what?!" Arthur stared at them, horrified. He couldn't stop his glance from drifting over to see Marayna sitting there, her hair falling in waves over her shoulder, but she seemed to be determined to look anywhere but at him, which only served to make a pit of guilt fall into his stomach.

"Merlin and Rayna had to bring you back to Camelot," Gaius commented, patting his niece and nephew on the back from where he stood behind them, the two of them on small stools at Arthur's bedside.

"I don't recall any of this!" Arthur shouted, focusing on his outrage rather than his guilt.

"Must've been some blow," Gaius remarked, more to himself than anyone, but Arthur heard him.

"What. Blow?" Arthur demanded through clenched teeth.

"Well, when we caught up with you," Merlin began.

"We couldn't talk you round into coming back," Marayna nodded.

"You were beyond reason."

"So, we had had to force you to."

"Well, Aya did," Merlin grinned, glancing at his sister as though sharing some sort of inside joke.

Arthur would have shuddered at their speaking in turn, it was creepy when they did that, rare though it was, but he was far too horrified at the notion that he had been knocked out, and by a girl no less. He turned his glare to Marayna, "You managed to knock me out?"

"Quite easily actually," she smiled at him, "The might Prince Arthur...taken down by a mere branch," she added after a moment.

It wasn't bad enough to be knocked out by a girl, but by an unarmed one as well!

"She only did it to bring you back safely," Gaius frowned, as though he were worried for his niece.

"No one can know about this," Arthur ordered, pointing a finger at them, "Any of it. Is that understood?" they just nodded as he fell back onto the pillows.

Marayna glanced at her brother, 'Told you so,' she whispered to him.

'Yes you did,' he agreed with a smile.

Before Arthur woke up Gaius had proposed the knock out story and they just had to decide who knocked him out. Merlin had argued that he should knock him out, he was a man after all and Arthur always wanted to think he was better than all men. But Marayna had insisted he would be more put off by being knocked out by a woman, she was right.

~8~

"When you failed to show up for patrol this morning," Uther began as he stood before Arthur in the Main Hall that afternoon, Marayna and Merlin standing just slightly off to the side, smirking as they watched Arthur squirm as much as Arthur could squirm before his father, "I feared you'd eloped with Sophia in a fit of passion."

"I wish he had," Merlin began, "Because then we wouldn't be stood in front of you feeling like idiots…again."

Uther strode up to them calmly, stopping before Marayna, "This is becoming a near daily occurrence for you," he commented.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at that, what were they talking about?

"Well I do so love your Majesty's company," Marayna quipped.

Arthur's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, did she want to be executed?! But shocked as he was at that, he was even more shocked when Uther actually gave the smallest of chuckles and shook his head.

"Could somebody tell me what happened?" he asked, turning to face Arthur expectantly.

"Umm…" Merlin began, clearly shocked at the king's reaction as well.

"Somebody with a brain," Uther commented, remembering Merlin's previous attempts at recalling things.

"After Sophia left, I wanted to take my mind off her," Arthur explained, "So I went for a hunt."

"And killing things mends a broken heart?" Morgana asked dubiously.

"No, but it's good fun," Arthur rolled his eyes, "Merlin was meant to inform you that I wouldn't be back till later today."

Uther turned to Merlin, the boy had said no such thing, "Have you some kind of mental affliction?"

"Probably," he admitted, smiling.

"I'm looking into it sire," Gaius chuckled.

"Well I hope for our sake you find a cure," he glanced at Marayna, recalling the last few days for her and what he knew of Merlin's first few, "Between the two of you, we'll find ourselves with a food shortage on our hands."

"The two of them?" Arthur asked out loud, looking between the two in confusion.

Marayna looked away, but Merlin, upon seeing his sister's reluctance, spoke up, "Marayna's been in the stocks the last two days."

"In the stocks?" Arthur's eyes widened, why was she in the stocks, hadn't he asked Merlin to lie to his father?

As though sensing his thoughts, Marayna turned to face Arthur, no smile on her face for him, which made his stomach drop, and cleared her throat before speaking, "I couldn't let Merlin have all the fun."

It was then that Arthur realized...all the time he'd been sneaking off with Sophia, asking Merlin to cover, it had been Marayna to take the fall. Why did that make him feel more guilty than if it had been Merlin?

"Actually, father," Arthur began, turning to his father, "I'm not entirely sure I told Merlin where I was going. I was rather distraught."

Uther smirked secretively at that, seeing what his son was trying to do. He knew his son had asked his servants to lie for him and he also knew Arthur assumed it was Merlin ending up in the stocks and not the other one. Perhaps this one time, he could overlook this. He nodded simply, earning a smile from Arthur, who turned his attention to Marayna, yet the girl hadn't smiled at the prince at all.

Interesting.

He wondered what his son could have done to anger her so, other than trying to run off and marry another woman. To be young and in love, he thought. He just shook his head. His son had gotten himself into this mess, he could get himself out. And with that, the king walked out of the hall, leaving his son to sort out his affairs.

~8~

Merlin and Marayna sat in Gaius's chambers quietly discussing the affect that Sophia's enchantment had had on Marayna. Gaius had determined that, as Marayna and Arthur were to marry, as it was apparently her destiny, that perhaps her magic was reacting to that threat against it and caused the 'pinch' whenever she tried to enchant him. Marayna had just rolled her eyes and let her head fall to the table, muttering about how it was bad enough to have to marry the prat, now she'd be stuck with heart attacks whenever he was enchanted? Given how often magic seemed to be used against Camelot she doubted this would be the last time someone tried to win his affections through magic.

"Morgana!" Gaius called, seeing the young woman enter his room as he stood and made his way over to her.

"I've...had some troubled nights," she explained hesitantly, he gaze on Merlin and Merlin's on her.

"I've prepared another draught for you," Gaius nodded, picking up another vial, "Have the dreams stopped?"

Morgana shook her head, before turning to face Marayna, "Arthur told me what actually happened," she smiled a bit, "You must have hit him round the head really hard."

"Had to in order to get through that thick skull fo his," she smirked, swallowing hard. Even if she hadn't actually knocked him out, she was sure that it WOULD take a rather large blow to do it.

"Here you are," Gaius handed her the vial, "Remember, every night just before you go to sleep."

"Thank you Gaius," Morgana nodded, glancing back at Merlin before leaving the room.

As soon as the door was shut, Gaius turned to the siblings, "She must never find out the truth."

"Why?" Marayna shook her head, "Her dream helped save Arthur and if she's a Seer her visions might be able to help protect Camelot even more!"

"And it could have cost her her own to do so. If Uther ever found out, things would never be the same again. It must remain a secret."

"Is she like us?" Merlin wondered, staring at the door Morgana had left through, "Can she use magic?"

"No one's like you," Gaius stated sadly. Most of those who were born with a talent for magic developed it later in life, with it usually appearing when just entering adulthood, but for Merlin and Marayna...it had been there since they were babies.

Merlin just stood and made his way to the door, no one needed to ask where he was going, even Gaius had worked it out. He may be an old man, but he wasn't a scholar for nothing, and Merlin really was not all that subtle was he?

Gaius waited a few moments before turning to his niece to see her subtly rubbing her neck, more so her throat, "See me tomorrow," he ordered her, "I'll prepare you a draught to help."

She nodded in understanding, getting up to head to her chambers as Gaius prepared for sleep himself.

~8~

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle. Merlin held a crying Morgana to his chest. He had just entered her room when she turned and ran to him, mumbling into his chest about how sorry she was that she hadn't told him about her dream. She knew he would try to help Arthur, but...she sobbed at that part...she was selfish. She didn't want Merlin to die as well…she didn't want Merlin to die instead.

That scared her more than words could describe.

Merlin managed to calm her, holding her close as he led her to the bed and laid her down, taking a seat beside her bed this time. He handed her the draught and explained that he understood, but then grinned his goofy grin and promised she would never lose him. Merlin's grin was the last thing she saw as she fell asleep. She loved that grin.

Merlin sighed, tired after the day's events, and fell asleep in a chair next to her bed. He didn't even stir when Morgana jumped awake from another nightmare.

A/N: I can say now, we WILL see the episodes where Arthur is enchanted or expected to find a wife...just imagine the oodles of fun Marayna will have with them }:) I can also say that there's more to Arthur's beginning interest in Sophia that we'll see more of in the next chapter, along with the fallout from this one, especially what Arthur did to Marayna }:) We'll also see Marayna's true thoughts on everything that happened here :)

Also, quick note to anyone who reads my 'An Ancient Observer' story, it won't be updated today. My one cousin came to visit yesterday and stay the night for a job interview and I wasn't able to finish editing that chapter, I also still have a tiny bit more to write for it. But it should be updated tomorrow or Friday the latest :)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm glad you all enjoyed Arthur last chapter :) I can say we'll see jealous/protective Arthur popping up again ;)

Lol, I thought Zeus was fitting :) It's hard to find someone worse than him in that sort of thing :)

Thanks :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story :) I try my best to keep the characters as in character as I can and if they go OOC to try and have a logical reason behind it, along with adding descriptions and thoughts so that it's not just the transcript all over again with a different character in :)

I definitely try to update my main stories daily :) As for Aurora, I can say we might just see her again, but I won't say when or who might be with her ;)