Believe

This felt so…weird.

Not bad or anything just very, very weird.

And kind of uncomfortable.

Seriously how did Gwen and his mom handle this? Being a girl was so out of his comfort zone it wasn't even funny.

He wasn't even supposed to turn into a girl anyway! He was just trying out a glamour that he read about in the spell book. It was supposed to be an illusion. This? This was as far from an illusion as you can get. The book didn't even say much about full on transformations, just that it took a lot of magic to-

Oh.

Okay maybe that's it. He overloaded the spell and instead of just a glamour he got-

Damnit. Other sorcerers didn't have to deal with power control problems!

Sometimes being Emrys sucked.

Well, all things considered it could be much much worse. He could be stuck in this form. Granted, it'll take some time for the transformation to wear off considering how much magic he put into the spell. And he would have to somehow learn how to use the glamour spell without resulting in full on transformations since he would have a hard time explaining where a girl came from and where "Merlin" went. And he would have to somehow keep this from Gaius because there was no way he could know about this. And he would have to get used to being a girl for gods know how long. And-

Alright so this situation couldn't be much worse than this. It was pretty much worse case scenario all around.

Sometimes he felt like screaming. He really did.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Standing in front of the whole court and telling everyone-Uther, Morgana, Gwen, Arthur-that he was a sorcerer was the hardest and scariest thing he had ever done. But he couldn't let the Witchfinder kill Gaius. He was the closest thing to a father he had.

He was ready to be led out in cuffs and he was ready to be executed. To hell with destiny. His father was in trouble and he would be damned if he would let him die when it was his fault they were in this situation in the first place.

The Witchfinder smirked. He gestured to the guards and as one they surrounded him on both sides, clasping his arms behind his back, swords at ready. "You show your true colors at last sorcerer."

Merlin clenched his teeth. He would not react. If he managed to get out of this, he could not doom his chances by using magic. For all he knew they might not believe-

"A sorcerer! In the castle grounds, near my son! Take him to the cells. He will be burned at the pyre tomorrow."

And he spoke too soon. It really wasn't his day.

The Witchfinder interrupted. "Sire, we cannot take the sorcerer to the cells yet."

Uther scowled and slowly rose from his throne. "Are you questioning my orders Witchfinder?"

The Witchfinder was unmoved. "Of course not sire. I was just saying that the sorcerer's powers must be bound first or else he may escape. Though he may not look it, it takes a particularly powerful magic user in order to be able to do various acts of magic all at the same time around Camelot."

The king frowned, but slowly sat back in his throne. He nodded at him. "You may proceed. But be careful of your words the next time you speak."

The Witchfinder bowed. "Of course sire."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag filled with some sort of dust. He answered the unspoken question. "Unicorn and dragon ashes sire, famously known to seal the powers of magical users. Very hard to come by." He took a pinch of the ash that looked suspiciously like sawdust and threw it into Merlin's face. Merlin, who had his mouth slightly open the second the Witchfinder mentioned dragon ashes, immediately started spitting out the bad tasting dust.

Talk about adding insult to injury. He thought sourly. For a brief moment, his concentration and magic- which held the glamour in place for the past week as he waited for the transformation to end-slipped. It was just a fraction of a second, but was all his magic needed.

"There," the Witchfinder said triumphantly. "Now, you may take-"

He stopped, a look of shocked disbelief on his face. Merlin froze, and felt the guards' iron clad grip on his arms go slack as the court room went completely silent.

In front of the whole court was not a lanky manservant, but a beautiful woman wearing male clothing.

Merlin's first instinct was to panic. He had just used magic in front of the whole court room. There was no chance that he could get out of this. No chance of destiny, no chance of Abilon, no chance of ever living. He was exposed, completely and utterly exposed, in front of everyone in a completely alien girl fo-

Wait.

He was in girl form.

As in unrecognizable.

No one would really know it was him if he played his cards right. He could give some big speech about how he framed everyone and how he hated Camelot like all the other sorcerers he came across and escape dramatically. His secret would be safe, Gaius would be safe, and he'd be able to take care of that stupid Witchfinder with no repercussions. At this moment, the full extent of the situation hit him. He could do absolutely anything he wanted. He could use the full extent of his power without fear of execution, he could be free for this single moment to use magic in front of others. In fact…

He could take it a step further, and say exactly what he has been wanting to say for such a long time now. No one would know, not Gaius, not Uther, and most certainly not Arthur. It wouldn't even harm his chances of converting Arthur; he was already under his father's thumb and until he became king he would never really take the idea of good magic seriously. One more evil sorceress could not hurt his chances more than they already were.

An unholy glint flared in his eyes.

This was going to be fun.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Arthur stared disbelivingly at the woman who took his best frien—er, his manservant's place. His mind was curiously blank. He was expecting his manservant to do something stupid, but turning into a woman in front of the whole court was so completely unexpected that he could do nothing but stare.

Slowly the woman's previously shocked expression turned unconcerned and uncaring, almost bored. She sighed. "Oh hell. I should have known this wouldn't have lasted."

Her eyes flashed gold, and the guards and Aredian flew back several feet. The guards broke out of their stupor and rushed the sorceress. She smirked, never once stopping her slow walk to his father's throne or taking his eyes off him, as he raised a hand in the air and said a single alien word. There was a bright flash of red light and everyone present- except for him, his father, and Aredian- fell to the floor, unmoving.

He jumped to his feet, sword drawn. Or at least, he would have, if he'd been able to move from his spot. He struggled and strained, but it was as if his body was made of stone. He wanted to yell out at the sorceress but he couldn't talk either. All he could do was watch out of the corner of his eye as she stopped at the foot of his father's throne, never once losing that damnable smirk.

"You know, I have heard many things about you Uther. How ruthless you are, how horrible you are, how very powerful you are. The twenty year purge, a time of horror for magic users everywhere. You killed everyone who was suspected of magic, be they man, woman, or child. I've heard many things about you in my travels. You are considered to be a cold, cruel man, a very stubborn man who will not stop until he gets what he wants. But up until now, I have always wondered why you were never considered an intelligent man."

She leaned in, coming face to face with his father as his very eyes shook with rage. She smiled coldly, and laid a hand on his cheek.

Get your hands off my father! He wanted to scream. All he could do was watch, helpless as the sorceress continued.

"To think, you would not know the difference between a real witchfinder and a conman." She laughed, the sound echoing in the silent court room. "It was rich, watching the so called witchfinder playing the almighty King Uther for a fool. Using your resources, your men, to find sorcerers that were simply not there. You, the King of Camelot, was so obsessed with the 'evils' of magic that you could not tell that the witchfinder was playing you for a gullible idiot. Tell me," She dropped the smile and took a step back, removing her hand from his cheek, "did you ever stop to think about how he got his 'hunches' about so-called hidden magic users? He and Gaius were known to not like each other. Didn't it seem strange that a man that had a notorious grudge on your adviser immediately started to target him? In fact, why did you trust the word of a man you just met over your most trusted adviser of many years? Were you so blind by your hatred that you were willing to take anyone down with you? What about the sightings of magic that seemed to crop up the second he stepped foot into Camelot? He was seen making various verbal threats towards the apothecary several days ago; many drugs that the apothecary has are known to cause hallucinations."

She raised her hand towards Aredian, her eyes flashing gold. The man gave a shutter and slowly stood up from his splayed position on the ground. Though he tried not to show it, Arthur could tell that the man was very afraid.

"But let's just say you don't believe me. Let's just say that my reasoning couldn't penetrate your thick skull long enough to consider what I'm saying. You're a man of strength Uther, not intelligence. I shouldn't waste my time talking to you when I can show you."

She locked her gaze on the slightly shaking witchfinder, who was holding a knife in a defensive position, now noticeably shaking. She gave him a small smile, full of false cheer.

"Well? You're the witchfinder. And I'm a witch. You must have experience with fighting magic users. You have, after all, detained many in the past." She raised her hands toward him, wrists forward, palms back. "So do it. Arrest me. Use one of your many magic sealing methods and separate me from my magic. Go on."

Aredian took a hesitant step forward, knife raised. It poised above him and the sorceress cocked her head as her smile widened. He dropped the knife and turned to run. The sorceress just smiled as he ran across the court room, managing to make it within a few steps of the door before she struck.

A flash of gold eyes, a sickening crack, and the witchfinder dropped to the ground, his neck broken.

She turned to her horrified audience, eyebrows raised, arms slightly spread, a small smile at her lips.

"Now do you see my point?"