A/N: Kay guys...Chapter 6 is here. Sorry for giving you such a cliffy with Morgana. I am truly evil...hahaha...I was only intending this to be a small part of a larger chapter...but as usual...my keys ran away from me. Hoping to get to some of the action soon!! Anyways...thanx everyone for reviewing!!

Chapter 6- Accusations

Merlin stood there in shock staring at Morgana, who in turn, regarded him with equal amazement. How was she here? How could this be happening?

Both of them were rendered completely speechless, absolutely oblivious to the confused exchanges between the Druids. Neither seemed to know what to say.

Morgana took a hesitant step towards him, confusion an disbelief portrayed in her brilliant blue eyes.

"Merlin..." she began in confusion. "How...why...you-you're Emrys?"

Merlin nodded silently, unsure what to say next. He looked her up and down, overjoyed to see her looking so well. Aside from the fact she was wearing simple, Druid attire, she looked the same as she always did, though perhaps with less of the dark circles around her eyes, making her appear years younger and more carefree than he had ever before seen her.

Merlin's relief at finding her alive and well almost overwhelmed him. The guilt and anguish he had felt as he sat on the throne room floor, cradling Morgana in his arms as she struggled for breath came rushing back. The painful memories were rekindled and wanted to tell her how sorry he was, explain why he had done it, try to condone the betrayal he had seen in her eyes as she realised what he had done. But how could he ever justify attempted murder?

He took a shuddering breath and forced himself to meet her eyes, which were still the epitome of confusion. He tried to convey with just a look, the guilt and immense regret he felt, and the wish to be reconciled. Perhaps she would forgive him? Please... let her forgive him. It was the last hope he was clinging on to.

"Morgana..." he, approached her, gently. "Please, let me explain..."

Suddenly the emotion in her eyes turned to anger and her features were contorted in a grotesque rage.

"Explain what? How you tried to kill me? How you poisoned me? Why Merlin, why? After everything we went through together, I thought I could count on you as a friend!"

"You can Morgana!" Merlin desperately tried to convince her.

"And is that what friends do? Poison each other? How could you Merlin?"

At this her shouts began to cease, and gave way to giant racking sobs, as she desperately tried to control herself. Tears streamed down her face; a face full of hurt and heartache. Seeing Morgana like that, felt to Merlin as though a stone-cold knife had just pierced his heart.

"Morgana, please you must understand. I never wanted to do that, believe me, I never wanted to hurt you. I put it off for ages, trying to find another way to find a way out of our predicament; but there wasn't one. Do you honestly think I would have tried to kill you if there was another way?" Merlin sounded desperate now, he could feel tears beginning at the back of own throat. This was never meant to happen!

Morgana took some shuddering breathes, and looked at him.

"I don't what you'd do any more Merlin."

"This wasn't my fault! I swear it wasn't! It was Morgause! She was using you to project her enchantment all over Camelot; you were the source of the magic. As long as you lived, the spell could not be broken. There was no other way...it was Morgauses's fault..." Merlin's voice trailed away.

He already knew his excuses were pathetic, how could he ever explain this to someone? He'd practised this conversation in his head so many times since that day, in case he should ever meet Morgana again, but now, seeing her betrayed and angry face, he found himself at a loss.

"Don't you dare blame this on Morgause! It was because of her, you were unsuccessful! She was the one who saved me!" Morgana's voice rose in anger once more.

"If it hadn't been for Morgause, you wouldn't have needed saving in the first place!! Merlin shouted back at her; he had to make her understand. "All of Camelot was in danger, everyone you or I cared about! They would all have died if I hadn't acted. You have no idea how much it pained me to do...what I did. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. You don't know how glad I was when Morgause finally showed up and you were offered a chance of survival. It was an impossible decision, to kill a friend or to effectively be responsible for the deaths of everyone in Camelot. I had to do that for their sakes, for Arthur's sake. Please believe me... "

Morgana scoffed.

"The pain it caused you! You don't think it hurt me? A man I considered a friend, one I trusted, trying to murder me! You speak of Arthur's sake, why should you care? You betrayed him. You kept your magic a secret form him, from all of us. How could any of us have trusted you!"

"It's my destiny to protect him, Morgana. I am Emrys. I couldn't let him die."

"But you could let me die!"

"What was I supposed to do Morgana?! Please! Tell me what I should have done!" Merlin yelled, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Not betrayed your friend, for one thing. You could have stopped the magic, yourself, if you truly are "Emrys", you should have been powerful enough to counteract it."

Merlin wished this had been true, he wished more than anything he could have done this any other way, the furious anger he saw on Morgana's face truly pained him, more so than Arthur's cold indifference and his inability to see the truth.

Morgana then broke out into hysterical sobs.

"And me Merlin? How could you have kept your magic from me? You knew how it tormented me, and yet you remained silent! You must have felt the same way when you discovered your own magic! You knew how scared, frightened and alone I was, could you not have helped me? How could you turn your back on me like that? How could you ignore me?"

Merlin remembered how the dragon had foretold of her great power, how he had warned him, not to let her know. He could not tell her this, not in the state she was in already, so he simply said:

"I did it for Arthur's sake."

AT this Morgana screamed and ran towards him, hitting him feebly in her distress. Merlin tried to control her flailing arms, but to no avail. She was inconsolable.

"Arthur's sake! You risk everything for him, but you wouldn't even let you know his secret! You betrayed him! You betrayed all of us! You cannot be Emrys! It was foretold Emrys would bring unity and peace back to the land; all you have done is cause more division and strife! I hate you!"

Merlin then felt a sudden rush of energy emanating from Morgana. He pushed her back and looked quickly into her face, where her eyes were glowing golden. She started breathing heavily, clutching at her head, panic in her face, as small fires erupted at her feet and the ground shook.

Merlin watched in horror as Byrne rushed over to the ground where Morgana was now kneeling, gasping irregularly. Her eyes were still golden. Even Merlin couldn't sustain the flow of energy like that for that long. He shuddered as he thought of what it was doing to her.

Byrne reached for her face and looked straight into her eyes, restraining her arms which were flailing around in a panic. What Byrne was saying to her, he couldn't tell, and he was too shocked to try and listen in on their silent conversation, but whatever it was seemed to be working. Her eyes slowly faded back to blue, and her breathing steadied. Suddenly she slumped, like a rag doll, and her eyes closed. Her chest rose in shallow weak breaths and she lay very still.

Byrne gathered her up in his arms and turned towards the village, in the direction of one of the small houses. But before he left, Byrne gave Merlin the most intriguing look, as though he was trying to read his mind. He looked thoughtful and there was an eagerness and hunger in his eyes which unnerved Merlin.

Without a word, Byrne then strode off to the village, Morgana's prone figure still in his arms. Merlin stood still, reeling from what had happened.

The other three Elders were regarding him with calculating expressions, as were most of the villagers. Their little confrontation had been witnessed by many it seemed.

Merlin turned to face Fyrmest with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Please, you have to believe me, I never wanted her dead, I had no other choice..."

"I believe you Emrys. Everything happens for a reason, what that reason is we must interpret for ourselves. However, you are both here, alive and well, that is something we must be grateful for. Your sacrifice may turn out to benefit us all in time."

Merlin seriously doubted that. What good would come out of Morgana's accusations? Her hurt...the way she had looked at him...

"What happened to her there?" Merlin asked, trying to avoid more talk of his betrayal.

Fyrmest sighed deeply.

"Morgana's magic is powerful indeed, though not as much as your own. Her magic has remained dormant for years, manifesting itself only in her dreams. She feared it, repressed it, and as such, it has become introverted. The more she tried to ignore it, the more it grew. The power that lies within her now, is strong enough to overpower her, she has no control over it. We are trying desperately to teach her, before any accidents occur. She has made significant progress under Byrne's instruction, however as you saw, not all of us can control our emotions, magic still bursts from her when she is emotionally distressed, and she cannot stop it. If we had not intervened. It would have consumed her."

Merlin stared at him in shock. He had never known magic could do that. He had never needed to learn to control magic. It was always a part of him, seamlessly melding with his every thought. Controlling it was as natural to him as controlling his breathing.

He then felt even more guilty. Perhaps if he had spoken to her sooner, helped her rather than ignoring her, she would now not be in the state she was.

Fyrmest noticed his distressed look.

"Do not feel guilty Emrys. Look on this as a new start, a new chance to correct all your old mistakes. Do not dwell on the past."

"How can I not when she hates me so much." Asked Merlin, despairingly.

"She will come around. Just give her time, after all, it is a huge thing to adjust to. She will soon realise how she needs you, and you will be reconciled. She will come to you when she is ready. It is the way of the world; we may not know how long it will be, but it will happen. Your paths are intertwined, this incident will only strengthen your bond."

"Don't dismiss me so lightly," he added, upon seeing Merlin's disbelieving face. "You never know what will happen until it does. We cannot all be Seers like Morgana."

Fyrmest then smiled at him and walked off with Brim and Lyft, heading to where Merlin knew Morgana lay, deathly pale and weak inside one of the dwellings dimly illuminated in the moonlight.

"Wait!" he called after them. "Why is Morgana even here? How did she get here?"

Fyrmest just smiled at him once again.

"That is not our story to tell."

With that, he turned and left.

Merlin, knew not what to say or do. Seeing Morgana again had been bitter sweet. He was overjoyed that she was alive, but the accusations she had slung at him, deeply hurt him. He wanted her to know the pain he was feeling, to truly convince her that he still cared deeply about her. She had been the first noble person to ever care about him, her warmth and kindness set her apart. Merlin couldn't stand the thought that Morgana would think ill of him. It was Arthur all over again. Slowly Merlin was losing everyone he had once counted as a friend.

He sighed, and looked up at the moon, alone in Her pilgrimage across the sky. For the first time, he truly knew what that must be like.

Arthur was at this very moment, probably in Camelot and hating him. Gwen he knew-he hoped-wouldn't be; it was not in her nature to hate anybody, but she wasn't here, not here to offer him the comfort she usually gave. Even now Morgana was hating him, and likely, many others in Camelot who felt betrayed at his lack of honesty were also hating him.

Merlin rallied himself. At the moment, there was nothing he could do about Arthur. He was far away now and out of reach of his help. But there was one person in this village who needed it, and he was determined that this time, he would not fail her.

He would not give up.

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