Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Chapter three: The Quest Begins.

)o(

Freya handed Merlin a small wrapped up object as he stood at the table in their shared quarters, packing the things he needed for the journey to find Camelot's missing queen. Merlin stared at it for a moment before taking it from her hands with a smile. Merlin knew what it was and he knew it would most likely be needed.

"I wish you were coming with me, my love," Merlin mutters, as he places the wrapped up object in his pack.

Freya smiles softly and reaches up and places one of her palms to one of Merlin's checks, "As do I, but I have been summoned by the Sidhe."

Merlin reaches up and takes Freya's hand, pressing a kiss to her palm as he lowers her hand.

"I know," Merlin sighs.

"You'll save her," Freya reassures him. "I know you will."

"But what if I can't, Freya?" Merlin asks. "We are walking straight into a trap. Morgana has come up with this plan to kill Arthur. What if something happens? What if I can't save both of them?"

"You can and you will," Freya takes Merlin's hand in both of her own.

Merlin stares at Freya before looking away.

"Hey," Freya orders softly. "Look at me."

Slowly Merlin turns back to meet her gaze, his eye full of regret and sorrow.

"This isn't really about them, is it?" Freya questions. "This is about Aithusa."

Merlin shut his eyes and bowed his head.

"What if Morgana has him there? She was using him as her own personal guard dog at Ismere!" Merlin asks. "What if he attacks one of the Knights while I'm not there to stop him?"

"The knights would never harm a dragon," Freya answers. "They know not to harm them."

"You don't understand… I failed him, Freya," Merlin disagrees. "I should have done something… I should have tried harder to find him. I should have found him and I should never have stopped searching for him. Now Morgana has him and the Knights think he's the enemy… If I'm not there to stop Aithusa, he'll attack them and they could be injured or worse, killed! Not to mention what the Knights might do to Aithusa!"

Freya leans forward and kisses Merlin's forehead, "You didn't fail him. King Sarrum is the one to blame… He has ways of hiding those with magic. You and I both know the stories people tell of what he does to those with magic… Maybe it would have been different if you had known Sarrum had caught Aithusa, but you didn't know… It wasn't your fault."

Before Merlin can answer there's a knock at the door to their quarters and a second later the door open to reveal Mordred, dressed and ready to go. Freya nodes to him and he quickly bows before backing out the room, to give Freya and Merlin a few more moments together.

"It's time for you to go," Freya tells Merlin.

Merlin looks up and meets her gaze, before nodding and grabbing his pack. He leans forward and kisses Freya, before pulling back.

)o(

Merlin and Mordred walked side by side down the steps into Camelot's courtyard. Gathered at the bottom of the steps, the knights were talking amongst themselves as they waited for Arthur to arrive. Gwaine glanced up and waved in greeting to Merlin, as he and Mordred approached the group.

"Merlin!" Gwaine greets with his usual enthusiasm at seeing the sorcerer he called his first and closest friend.

"Gwaine," Merlin answers, as Gwaine pulled him into a one armed hug.

As Gwaine released him, Merlin nodded in greeting to Leon and Percival who were both present. The antidote Alice and Gaius had made up seemed to have worked well at slowing down the effects of the poison. All they could do was hope the poison ruining in their veins wasn't deadly. Dark magic was capable of doing far more than just killing a person.

Elyan was standing slightly away from the group, gripping the hilt of his sword and staring off into the distance. He had been troubled ever since he got back and was no doubt thinking he had failed his sister and Queen. Isolde and Tristan were also part of the group, which wasn't much of a surprise as Isolde was Gwen's personal guard and Tristan was one of Camelot's newest knights.

The sound the castle doors opening causes Merlin to look round to see Arthur hurrying down the castle steps, pulling on his riding gloves and adjusting his cloak. George was trailing behind him carrying his packs and looking slightly frightened. Merlin couldn't help but feel sorry for him, his years of working for Arthur had exposed him to the worst of Arthur's moods and with the disappearance of Gwen, Arthur definitely wasn't in a good mood.

"'Let's go," Was all Arthur said, as he pulled himself up into his horses saddle.

George quickly attached Arthur's packs to the horses saddle as the knights readied themselves to ride. Merlin and Mordred shared a glance before following suit. In less than a minute they were ready and as the first light of dawn appeared over the horizon, the group set out from Camelot in search for the missing Queen.

Less than an hour's ride from the castle, they came upon Gwen's horse. The horse was tied to a tree and was grazing on the long grass at the base of the tree. Elyan quickly jumped down from his horse and hurried over to the Gwen's horse. He quickly examined the saddle and what he found wasn't good.

"She must have been knocked from her mount by some force," Leon comments, joining Elyan beside the horse.

"Here," Percival points off into the forest. "Tracks. They are heading east."

"Let's go." Arthur orders once more.

)o(

Gwen struggled to walk as she was dragged behind Morgana's horse. The rope tied around Gwen's wrists were attached to the back of Morgana's horse's saddle. They had been walking non-stop since the morning and Gwen was struggling to keep up.

Her dress was covered in dirt from where she had fallen hours before, after she had just been to exhausted to keep going and her hair was a mess and even her dress was torn in couple of places. If anyone was to have seen her in that moment, they would never have guessed she was the Queen of Camelot.

Gasping for breath, Gwen collapses to the forest floor and was pulled forward to the ground as Morgana's horse kept going. Morgana pulls at the rains of her horse sharply, causing her horse to come to a halt as she notices Gwen was no longer on her feet and if she continued any further the horse would be dragging Gwen through the woods.

Gwen would be useless to her dead, so Morgana had no choice but to stop and let Gwen rest for a moment. Morgana climbs down from her horse and approaches Gwen and offering Gwen her water skin as she does so.

"Here," Morgana holds out the water skin.

Gwen glares up at her from where she was on the ground.

"Is it too good for you now that you are Queen?" Morgana sneers.

Gwen shakes her head, "I don't want anything from you."

"Just my crown…" Morgana sneers again. "Drink it. You may need it."

"Why?" Gwen questions.

Morgana smirks down at Gwen, "I would not be in such a hurry to know."

Morgana then pours all the water out of the water skin and turns around and walks back to her horse. She pulls herself back up on to her horse, she flicks the rains and the horse continues along the path, dragging Gwen to her feet as it does so. Gwen simply glares at Morgana's back as they continue on their way.

)o(

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.