"Ah, Merlin, there you are." Arthur exclaimed as he jogged towards his manservant. The Prince of Camelot had just finished an unexpected training session with the knights. It seemed that Uther had thought some of the youngest of them were not ready for the gruesome scenes they would no doubt face when they set out for the druid camp.

Merlin nodded his head. He then bowed down slightly, muttering the word 'sire', but it fell on deaf ears for Arthur was far too busy thinking about something, what exactly was going through the prat's head, however, Merlin had no clue.

"I was informed that you wanted to talk to me, sire."

"That's right. While I am away, I have some chores that need to be taken care of. You need to…."

"Wait." Merlin interrupted Arthur before he had a chance to start enunciating every last bit of dirty work Merlin no doubt would be smoldered with. The warlock asked incredulously, "You mean to tell me I won't be coming with you?"

Arthur stared blankly at Merlin as though the boy's absence during such an important quest would not be anything out of the ordinary or uncalled for. Merlin could not believe what his ears were hearing and his eyes were seeing. Before he could surrender to his anger, however, the warlock reached an interesting conclusion – not being forced to go with Arthur meant one thing – he could easily pretend to be busy doing the chores assigned to him, while in the meantime someone would accidentally go to the druid camp and warn them. Gaius did say that the chances of apprising the druids were slim to none, but Merlin had to try. He had no right to back down of such a challenge when the lives of so many were at stake.

With an unexpected beaming smile Merlin asked:

"Would that be all, sire?"

"No, and what are you grinning for?" Arthur enquired suspicion evident in his tone.

The warlock immediately composed himself and answered:

"It is nothing Sire. I am just glad that I will not be forced to mentor and protect you all day."

The humour was palpable in Merlin tone and managed to successfully gather Arthur's attention simultaneously making the prince forget about the suspiciousness of Merlin's odd behaviour. Arthur's reply was not a surprise.

"Oh really? You think that you are forced to protect and mentor me during out trips?" Arthur asked before continuing with a smug smirk, "I am afraid your imagination is playing tricks on you Merlin because if I remember correctly it was you that nearly got killed twice during out last two quests and it was me that was forced to save your sorry ass again."

Merlin was about to retort when Sir Leon came and managed to distract Arthur long enough for the warlock to make some excuse about having plenty of chores that would last him a lifetime to finish. Having excused himself, Merlin snuck away careful to avoid as many people as possible. He arrived at Gaius' chambers and started gathering enough supplies to last him the three day trip it would take him to reach and come back from the camp if everything went according to plan.

Merlin was ready after about an hour. He had found out by eavesdropping on one of the younger knights' conversations just after the training session had concluded that they were to set out tomorrow at dawn. That would give Merlin a good advance of twelve hours and he was going to use it to his advantage. The warlock waited for darkness to descend before he exited the chambers. He managed to avoid meeting Gaius for apparently some kind of disease had broken out and the physician was quite busy attending to everyone's needs. There were also a few potions that needed to be delivered including Morgana's sleeping draft.

Speaking of the sorceress, she happened to arrive just when Merlin was about to leave. Uther's ward had knocked on the door and before Merlin had a chance to hide everything the door had creaked open revealing none other than Morgana herself. She was paler than usual, a sure sign that she was afraid. But of what? Had Uther's current schemes affected her so greatly?

Before Merlin had a chance to say anything or ask her whether she was alright or question her reason for being here, Morgana said:

"I apologize for coming on such shot notice and for intruding like that. I was certain that no one would be here."

Merlin frowned slightly. Her voice shook slightly during the last few words. Something was terribly wrong. Something had happened, something horrid, terrifying, but what exactly was it? Unable to keep his curiosity at bay any longer Merlin asked:

"Is everything alright, Milady?"

Morgana's eyes widened slightly. She opened her mouth then closed it. Her eyes started moving around frantically as though they were searching for something. They landed on both doors twice, alerting Merlin of one precious piece of information – Morgana was indeed afraid, but what had shaken her so profoundly was not what had happened, it was the possibility of someone finding out that she knew it had occurred.

"No one is here. No one can or will hear us. Everyone is busy attending to their duties." Merlin tried to reassure her.

A sardonic smile made its way on to Morgana's face as she replied:

"Yes, of course. But I am afraid you are mistaken Merlin. No one is busying themselves with their regular activities. They are far too preoccupied with assisting Uther in his plans for causing more bloodshed and death."

Merlin's eyes widened. How could she have found out so easily? Arthur would not announce such a thing until tomorrow morning. Merlin had thought that no one besides himself, the knights that were assigned to go on this mission, Uther, Arthur and Gaius knew. Apparently he had been wrong. Morgana knew. And there was no telling what she would do.

"I am certain you know of his new strategy for the battle against magic." Morgana said with a face that was void of any emotion whatsoever. Only her bright green gaze betrayed her perfectly sculpted mask.

Merlin could only nod. He was afraid that if he were to try to speak, his voice would definitely raise awareness to the fear and anger that were currently burning him on the inside. Those two feelings were eating away every last bit of humanity Merlin had inside of him and would undoubtedly prevail one day.

Morgana's eyes fell on the bags that were scattered carelessly behind an empty table and chair. She narrowed her eyes. She then directed her gaze at Merlin. He met her suspicious and defiant irises with equally stoic and intense ones. After a few seconds realization dawned on Morgana and her eyes widened. A gasp escaped her red lips as she asked:

"Merlin, d-don't tell me….?"

She choked. Merlin's eyes widened and he was about to step forward and embrace her because he thought that she had started crying but refrained from doing so for she had looked up. There was no trace of tears on her face or eyes, only astonishment and fear. Merlin nodded his head, answering her unspoken question.

"But….but why?" Morgana questioned.

Her voice had nearly died again. Merlin closed his eyes as he sighed. He clenched and unclenched his fists. He could not believe what all of this along with everything else that had happened weeks before had affected Morgana. The warlock could not help but feel raw fury blaze his lungs and prevent him from breathing normally as Merlin realized that since Morgana found out about her magic and increase in the persecution of those who had the same or similar gift to hers, mainly the druids, she had never once smiled genuinely. It was a sight so rare that Merlin could swear it had never happened; that it had turned into a ghost; that the Morgana he saw now was nothing more than a mere frightened shadow of her true self and part of it was Uther's doing.

"Because it is the right thing to do." Merlin finally answered her question. He wanted to tell her about his other, truer, realer, stronger motives, but he did not have enough courage to do so. Now was not the time to tell her about his sad story and the tragedy that had befallen his family. Right now he had to convince her that everything would be alright. Then Merlin had to depart for time was precious and, unfortunately, as always, the warlock was running out of that irreplaceable substance of life as always.

"Can I come along?" Morgana asked.

Merlin was baffled by her question. He could not believe how fast her condition and expression had changed –from fear to courage, from apathy to resolution and will to fight for what was right and what she held dear. Merlin wanted to tell her no, he really did, but he knew that in a situation where the lives of hundreds were at stake, the warlock needed all the help he could get. Plus, trying to convince Morgana of the opposite of what she wished to do or believed in would prove pointless and a complete waste of time. That was the reason why with a heavy weight on his shoulders and pain in his heart Merlin nodded and before Morgana could leave, he took her by the forearm and said:

"You can come on one condition – you need to be absolutely careful that no one notices or recognizes you."

At first there was bewilderment on Morgana's face. But the cloud of confusion lasted only for a second of two. Once the shadow of doubt had been lifted, she nodded, fire burning in her eyes as did in Merlin's. Uther's ward soon exited Gaius' chambers and managed to prepare quite fast.

After about an hour Merlin and Morgana set out for the druid camp, protected by the veil of the darkness of the night, to prevent an inhuman act from occurring.

The next day:

To find out what happens please read the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: I know that in the previous chapter Gaius told Merlin that there was not enough time, thinking that Arthur would drag Merlin along with him and that the knights would depart at noon or early evening. But there had been a change of plan and as a result Merlin had been given the freedom of not attending the quest and a few hours in advance compared to Arthur and his knights.

Just a little teaser:

"Morgana watch out!" Merlin shouted before his eyes shined with blazing gold.