Merlin sighed as he looked at the path that lay before him. It was so dark he could barely see what was in front of him let alone continue riding. He tilted his head slightly forward and tried to focus on the path before him. With the help of his gift he managed to scan the surrounding are in radius of eight hundred meters and concluded with a satisfied smile that there was no one besides them. Being convinced that if they stopped to rest they would be out of harm's way, Merlin took a glance at Morgana. She appeared to be fine, though she was tired. The long travel seemed to finally be taking its toll on her as well. Merlin looked ahead. His gaze then went up. If he was right, they would be able to rest for a few hours and hopefully get some sleep.

Making his horse slow its pace down, Merlin allowed Morgana's to catch up. The woman looked up at him questioningly when they were next to each other. Merlin pointed towards a nearby tree as he said:

"I think this would be a good place to rest."

Morgana did not protest. As much as she was eager to reach their destination as fast as possible, she knew she would be of no use if she was too weary to even stand. That was the reason why she just nodded and continued for a little while longer until she reached the tree. She then slid down from the saddle and grabbed the horse's reigns, leading it towards the tree. Merlin mimicked her actions. Once he was certain that both horses were settled and would not escape unless freed with the help of someone else, he told Morgana he would go and collect firewood. The woman nodded. She then sat down and waited for Merlin.

Merlin was back soon. The boy knew that he had taken a great risk by leaving Morgana alone like that, but he had double checked the surrounding perimeter within a bigger radius this time and yet he had sensed no danger. He had also been keeping an eye on her and the surrounding areas while he had been collecting firewood and again there had been nothing harmful or suspicious or anything that would alert Merlin. The warlock lit the fire with the help of two sticks. He then went to feed the horses and give them water, dismissing Morgana's offer to do it herself. After a good half hour both of them had eaten and both were half asleep. Both had a lot of questions for each other, but given their current state of exhaustion, it was no surprise that pretty soon the witch and the warlock succumbed to their bodies' need for rest.

Morning soon came. The first rays of the sun woke Morgana. At first she had protested, but then she had remembered where she was and as a result abruptly jerked up.

"I see you're awake." Merlin said as he brought her breakfast. Morgana took the food and water gratefully. She eyed Merlin suspiciously as he sat down to eat his own breakfast. They were slightly falling behind, but if they increased their pace, they would be able to make up for the lost time.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Morgana asked suddenly.

Merlin looked at her confusedly. Morgana's response was an exasperated sigh and roll of her eyes. She then clarified:

"Why did you not wake me to take the second watch?"

Merlin nearly choked on his food. He could not believe she had noticed. Perhaps he had not been able to fool her as he had been hoping. Merlin sighed. Why did she have to be so perceptive?

"I thought you needed your rest." Merlin answered.

Morgana was furious. She could not believe Merlin thought she was this fragile and could not take the pressure of not being to sleep well for one damn night. But soon her rage disappeared when she realized something – Merlin had allowed her to come on this trip, knowing fully well that Uther might go ballistic( if he had been acting like himself lately, which was a rare, if not completely uncommon scene), if he found out. He had also left her alone last night and had gone to collect firewood, which meant that he trusted her to at least some degree. Speaking of the King, Morgana could not help but note the drastic change in his behaviour. Uhter had hardly spoken to her or Arthur during the past few weeks let alone dine with them or converse longer than a minute or two. In fact, one morning, not too long ago, he had not even greeted Morgana properly and had ignored Arthur when he had tried to discuss different tactics or ideas to strengthen the defense around Camelot's borders. Morgana did not understand what had triggered it, but she knew that whatever the reason was for Uther's lack of willingness to speak even to his own kin was probably responsible for his complete surrender to his form of insanity.

"Morgana, is everything alright?" Merlin asked suddenly, drawing Morgana's attention completely.

She sighed as she confessed:

"No, nothing is alright Merlin….absolutely nothing."

The last two words came out as mere whisper. They were almost inaudible. Merlin had to strain his ears in order to hear Morgana's full answer. The boy frowned at the brokenness and slight anger behind them. Those two words alone were laced with so much hopelessness, so much brokenness that Merlin could not take it. He wanted to embrace her, to wrap his arms securely around her and never let go. He wanted to take all that pain away. He wanted to bring back her smile and maybe even sometimes be the reason for it, though the latter sounded a bit selfish right now. But he could not. He knew he would never be able to offer her anything beyond friendship and companionship. He could not tell her his secret, not right now at least. He could not take such a risk. Plus, what would it change? She would still be scared. Her fears would still remain. Her problems would not be solved, only would have increased as a result. No, Merlin could not burden her further. That was the reason why he had to keep quiet and tell her as little as possible about his true self.

Merlin sighed internally. It seemed that he would be forced to hide his true identity from the one person that was near him and would be able to understand. Then….if Morgana and he were in the same situation, were facing the same demons, were fighting the same battles, and were scared for their lives and afraid of the same darkness that magic offered, why shouldn't he tell her?

"Merlin, what is wrong?" Morgana asked, meeting Merlin's gaze, concern written all over her beautiful face.

Merlin broke out of his stupor as he answered:

"N-nothing. Why do you ask?"

Morgana appeared doubtful at first, making Merlin berate himself for allowing such a stupid slip up. He could not believe he had stuttered and given himself away like that. Morgana would no doubt suspect that something was off, but fortunately for him, she appeared to be contemplating something else. Soon she opened her mouth as though she were about to say something, then seemed to reconsider and closed it. All she said was:

"I called your name three times and you didn't answer. I was starting worry. I see that there is nothing the matter or so you have claimed. I reckon it is high time we continued our journey. We would not want Arthur to arrive there before us and ruin everything, now would we?"

Merlin wanted to smile genuinely at the display of competitiveness between her and the clotpole, but now was not the time for such demonstrations of carefree attitude and lack of seriousness. The situation was dire and no matter how hard he tried, Merlin could not find it within himself to involve any form of humor into their conversation or enjoy it for that matter. That was the reason why all he offered as a response was a half smile and a nod. After they had finished packing, they left.

The next part of their trip went fairly uneventful and quiet. Soon, however, the silence became deafening. That was the reason why Merlin could not help but ask:

"Have you noticed anything unusual about the King's behaviour lately?"

Morgana nodded. She internally smiled triumphantly. It seemed she and Merlin had similar opinions on the matter, though she could not be completely certain until she asked. That was what she did.

"I have. Do you think that this strangeness has something to do with his peculiar choices and courses of action as of late?"

Merlin nodded before replying:

"Yes, I do, though I still don't know what caused it."

Morgana furrowed her eyebrows slightly. She seemed to me contemplating something. However, after some time a sigh of defeat escaped her lips before she responded:

"I am afraid I do not know what triggered it as well. Perhaps, it is not Uther's fault entirely. Maybe someone else is involved."

"Are you suggesting that someone is manipulating the King?" Merlin asked ludicrous before adding, "Not that I do not agree that there is some truth in your words or mean to be offensive, but come on? Arthur might be easy to fool, but you know that Uther is not his son."

Morgana smirked before replying:

"I do concede that Arthur is far too gullible and reckless at times, but you should give him more credit, Merlin."

"I do give him credit. So much that he is starting to become too big for his boots again." Merlin responded.

With a bigger smirk Morgana said:

"Do not worry Merlin. I will see to it that this issue is resolved personally."

Merlin chuckled at the hidden threat in Morgana's words. It seemed that she, too, could not stand Arthur's inflated ego. The warlock's thoughts then drifted to the prince. Merlin could not help but feel slightly guilty for going behind Arthur's back for the umpteenth time. Although the boy knew what he was doing was for the greater good, he could not just ignore the pang of gall that settled in his stomach when he went back in time and thought of all the choices he had made. He had lied constantly in order to protect his secret. He had allowed many people to die only to defend what he thought was right, what he believed in. But would that prophecy come true? Or was it nothing but a myth? Had Merlin become so obsessed with it that he had allowed it to cloud his better judgment? The warlock was not certain how to decipher what was real from what was false. He did not even know the truth anymore. He had conjured up so many lies that in the end he had started to lose track of his own path. He did not even know who he was anymore. There were so many masks he was forced to wear every single damn day! And it was starting to become tiring, so, so very tiring. . .

"Merlin. Merlin!" Morgana half yelled. She managed to attract Merlin's attention when something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere a sea of arrows appeared. Those undoubtedly poisonous weapons were aiming straight for Morgana and without thinking Merlin screamed:

"Morgana watch out!"

Then his eyes blazed with gold, redirecting the arrows' path.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the parts of the plot that differ from the canon version. I make no profit out of writing this story. I am writing it merely for entertainment purposes.

A/N: Thank you everyone for the support. Words cannot describe how much it means to me. Just a heads up – normally the pace of my plots is slow so please do not expect something enormous to happen in just two chapters.

Another small teaser:

"I am afraid I cannot promise you that. I am sorry."