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Merlin had been away from Camelot for three weeks and anyone who didn't know him very well wouldn't have recognized him. Arthur probably wouldn't even recognize me. He thought with a wry laugh.
He had used magic to grow out his hair to about the length of Gwaine's and he had grown a beard. To add to it he had dramatically changed his clothing. He no longer wore the red neckerchief-it was too easy an identifier- and now wore the mail armour, a sword-he laughed at this, as if he would ever be able to use it properly-and the blue cloak.
He had finally gotten his magic under control; after all it was amazing what you could do when you could get some proper practice in. The visions however had become more frequent and more vivid. This was why he was unsurprised when Morgana appeared in the clearing behind him. He had seen that this was going to happen. What he hadn't been able to see was what his reaction was going to be.
"Hello, Morgana," he said, his voice deep and harsh from misuse.
"Emrys," she whispered in awe. He didn't answer; it was clear that Morgause had scryed his location. "I am assembling an army of sorcerers to attack Camelot."
Merlin closed his eyes and smiled wryly. "I know."
"Would you like to see?" she asked hesitantly.
"Sure, why not?" He stood up and turned to face her.
She was leaning against a moss covered ash on the edge of the clearing. She raised an eyebrow at the Pendragon crest on his cloak but made no comment. She clearly didn't recognize him as her brother's goofy manservant. As far as she was concerned they had never met.
She led the way to where the sorcerers were gathering for the attack. Merlin noticed with little surprise how few druids were among their number. Clearly Morgana and Morgause had been unable to win the peaceful people to their cause.
The encampment was clearly temporary. It was little more than a jumble of tents erected in an extremely disorganized fashion. There were only about fifty here but fifty sorcerers could cause Camelot quite a bit of damage. They might even be enough to breech the city in a surprise attack. The scene was enough to make Merlin worry for his friends.
The men and women were milling about or sitting at one of the cook fires preparing their noontime meal. There were no children among the group. Merlin sighed in relief upon noticing this. It had been a real worry of his.
"Where is your sister?" he asked.
"She is in the north, trying to gather more to our cause. She will be back by sunset to join us for our attack."
Merlin couldn't help but notice she was already referring to things as though he were a part of the group. "You are attacking tonight?" he asked with mild surprise.
"Yes and I was hoping you might join us."
The gall with which she asked this, as if it were merely a formality and he would instantly except, disgusted Merlin. She knew nothing of who Emrys was, why should she assume he would side with her? He decided not to grant her question a response and asked instead, "So what is your plan?"
"We will attack at sunset when they will not be expecting it. We will cut down their forces and break through the gates. I will have the pleasure of killing Uther and Arthur myself."
Short, sweet, and to the point, but not logistically sound at all. Merlin glanced sideways at her, "So you would just kill your own brother?"
"Of course not," she said with a smirk, "I will kill everyone he cares about in front of him first."
This was too much for Merlin. How could she have gone so far that she could do such a thing to someone she had once been friends with? Before she could make another move he pinned her against a tree with magic. After the initial shock was over several people leaped up to come to Morgana's assistance, so Merlin put up a barrier around them to keep people from interfering.
"You do realize that by killing Arthur you would only be hurting your own cause? You have clearly heard the legends since you know who I am, but don't you realize who Arthur is?"
She smirked, "We've no need of Arthur. I too am a Pendragon. We could rule Camelot together, Emrys."
Merlin merely shook his head. Morgana had clearly gone off the deep end. "What happened between us Morgana? We used to be such good friends." Morgana now looked deeply confused. Merlin slowly began walking towards her. "You, Arthur, Gwen, and me, we all used to get along so well. You even helped me save my village once when Uther refused to send aid. Do you remember?"
Recognition flashed in her eyes. "Merlin." She began struggling violently.
With another wave of magic he flattened her against the tree so she couldn't move. She whimpered a bit. His face was now inches from hers. "Hello Morgana. I am sorry for what I have done to you in the past, but you made your own choices." He took a step back. He needed to get back to Camelot to warn Arthur of the coming attack, even if it meant being arrested and having to escape. They would never be able to actually execute him with the way his powers had grown. "Goodbye Morgana," he said and teleported out of the clearing.
…
Arthur paced back and forth in his room. It had been nearly three weeks since Merlin had left the city. Arthur had wanted to ride out and find him immediately after talking to Lancelot but there had been two things standing in his way.
The first was that neither Lancelot nor Percival would tell him where Merlin was. Lancelot had simply said "It isn't my secret to tell." Percival on the other hand had given an even more irritating answer. "He will come back when he is ready." He had told Arthur. "Besides, things here need a chance to cool down first anyways."
The second thing was Gaius. When Arthur had gone to talk to him he had said essentially the same thing as Percival had. Arthur respected his opinion, after all Gaius knew Merlin better than anyone.
Still it had been three weeks and he was slowly being driven mad by Merlin's continued absence.
Just then he heard a fierce wind coming from…the hallway? What on earth? There was loud cursing from three different voices.
"Seize him, he's a sorcerer!" Arthur heard a guard shout.
Arthur's door slammed open and a man unceremoniously burst through. The man shut the door quickly and waved his hand over the lock. Arthur heard the lock click home. The man sighed in relief and turned around. When he saw Arthur standing mere feet from him he froze in surprise.
Arthur studied the man. At first glance he didn't recognize him at all but as he studied him more closely he felt a twinge of familiarity. He slowly took in the elf like features of the man and those bright blue eyes he could swear he knew quite well. Recognition suddenly hit fully and he shouted in joy and surprise, "Merlin!"
…
His landings had improved; he hadn't gone sliding across the floor this time. However he was a bit unbalanced after the teleport and he fell backwards into the wall. He saw the guards then. There were two of them and by the looks on their faces they had seen him teleport in. He cursed at the same moment they did.
One of them shouted "Seize him, he's a sorcerer!"
After only a moment of hesitation he pushed open the door to Arthur's room and rushed in. He closed the door after him and locked it with magic. With a sigh of relief he turned around to find a seat to wait for Arthur to arrive.
He hadn't expected Arthur to be in there at this time of day so when he saw the Prince standing mere feet from him he stopped in surprise.
Arthur's brow furrowed. Merlin had been correct in his assumption that Arthur wouldn't recognize him. Then a tiny flash of recognition appeared in Arthur's blue eyes and his scrutiny intensified. Merlin did his best not to squirm under the Prince's scrutiny.
There was a flash of solid recognition in the Prince's eyes and he shouted, "Merlin!"
Merlin immediately jumped into action, "Before you call the guards to take me to the dungeons I really need to tell you something."
Before Merlin had a chance to say anything more Arthur walked towards him and Merlin feared the worst. Then, to Merlin's complete and utter shock, Arthur hugged him.