Disclaimer: As much as I would like to, I don't own Merlin!

Merlin opened his eyes to the evening sunlight streaming through his window. He rolled over onto his back, blinking slowly as the memory of the last few hours drifted back to him. He groaned and pressed both hands over his face.

He had pratically fainted in front of the whole village.

He sat up. His head swung a little and began to throb, but he felt much better than he had before. He climbed off the bed and moved down into Gaius's room. Gaius himself was sitting at his desk, examining a large book. Merlin walked slowly down the steps, touching the wall just in case his headache increased at all, but it remained a dull throb. Gaius reached for a quill, caught sight of Merlin and stood up so fast that his chair flew backwards and hit the wall.

"Merlin!" he gasped. "I wasn't expecting you to be up until tomorrow... how are you?"

Merlin smiled wearily. "Fine. Bit of a headache but... but fine."

"Sit down," Gaius said at once, gesturing to a chair.

Merlin did as he was told. Gaius retrieved a cup of water from the table and offered it to him.

"What kind of headache?" he asked. "Is that all you feel?"

Merlin nodded, sipping at the water. "Kind of like a throbbing... its not that bad," he said quickly as Gaius eyed the herbs on his work bench. He didn't want to have some disgusting ancient remedy forced down his throat. "Where's Arthur and Gwen?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Arthur left to speak to his father hours ago," Gaius replied. "Gwen returned to lady Morgana. And I think you should stay here and rest," he added warningly as Merlin rose to his feet.

"But I need to find out what Uther said," Merlin protested. "I only want to talk to Arthur for a moment."

Gaius scowled, but Merlin was already heading towards the door. "Don't be long!" the older man called after him as the door slammed shut.

Merlin moved along the corridor and up towards Arthur's chambers. He knocked once on the door and then pushed it open without waiting for a reply.

"I've told you, I don't want any assistance this evening!" Arthur snarled, spinning around from the fire. "Why can't..."

His voice trailed off as he took in Merlin, and his eyes widened. Then he shook himself and strode away to sit down in his armchair in front of the fire.

"You took your time," he muttered, clearly embarrassed after his little outburst.

Merlin grinned and moved inside, kicking the door shut behind him. "You haven't got another manservent, have you?" he asked.

Arthur shot him a smirk. "Oh please, Merlin, you'll always be my servent no matter what the peasants call you."

Merlin shook his head, smiling, and leant against the wall beside the fireplace. "Watch out, Arthur, I might turn you into a frog." He paused. "So... what did Uther say?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "Ah... well, he wasn't too pleased but I think I got him to calm down a little. At least he's not going to have you strung up or anything."

"Great," Merlin muttered.

"To be honest, its this mysterious stranger that I'm more worried about," Arthur said, reaching for a glass of wine on the table behind him. "Do you know anything about him at all?"

Merlin shrugged. "No, but the strange thing is that he knew me. He used my other name-"

"Your other name?"

"Ah, its what I'm known as among... others," Merlin replied hesitantly. "It's Emrys."

"Emrys," Arthur murmured. "Huh. Maybe you should make that your regular name, its much better than Merlin."

Merlin shook his head. "I don't like it. It makes me feel like... I don't know. Like something else."

Arthur watched him for a few moments, but Merlin didn't speak. Eventually Arthur broke the silence.

"Alright, then. This man, you said he knew you?"

Merlin nodded. "Yes... and he seemed to think that I should know him too. But I didn't recognize him at all."

"Sure?"

Merlin thought for a moment, and then nodded again. "I'm sure."

"Then I suppose the only question left is; how do we stop him," Arthur said.

Merlin stared into the fire. The silence between them showed that they were both thinking the same thing. Merlin swallowed hard.

"I don't want to kill anyone else."

Arthur looked up at him, his face cold and resigned. "You might not have a choice," he said quietly.

Merlin turned away, striding over to the window. He didn't want to face that fact just yet. Instead, he stared down into the courtyard of the castle, sighing heavily. The sun was sinking below the horizon, casting a red glow over the stones. It reminded Merlin of the fire that had occurred just hours eariler... he froze. There was a shadow moving towards the castle.

"Arthur..."

"What is it?"

The shadow stopped, lifted its head. The blood-red sunlight fell across its face, and Merlin flinched back from the window.

"Arthur! He's here!"

"What?"

"He's in the courtyard!"

Without waiting for Arthur to reply, Merlin turned and sprinted from the room. He raced down the corridor, thundered down the stairs and ran through the doors of the castle. His enemey smiled, folding his arms.

"Hello, Emrys. I see you put the fire out."

"Why are you doing this?" Merlin called. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Merlin?"

Arthur had reached him. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the stranger and he drew himself up to his full height.

"You're not welcome in Camelot," he snapped. "Get out of here before I call the guards."

The man let out a short laugh. "Yes, set the guards on me," he said. "I'd enjoy that."

Merlin nudged Arthur gently as the Prince opened his mouth to retaliate. He stepped forwards, steeling himself. His headache sharpened abruptly, but he ignored it.

"There is no reason for this," he said. "What have we got to fight about?"

The man's smirk vanished. "You killed Nimueh!" he snarled. "What haven't we got to fight about?"

"She's what all this is about?" Merlin asked. "Nimueh? She was evil, she was-"

"She was mine!" the man roared. "You think she didn't have a life, didn't have..." he shook his head, unable to finish. He stabbed a finger at Merlin. "You will pay for what you've done," he vowed. "I will make sure of that."

"You won't get near him," Arthur snapped. "Because, unlike you, Merlin is not alone."

A smile inched onto the man's face once more. "Really? You're saying you would stick with Emrys through thick and thin? Through anything?"

The hairs on the back of Merlin's neck stood on end. He swallowed hard, but Arthur was already speaking.

"Yes," he snapped. "Through anything."

"Well then," the man said smoothly. "Lets test that theory, shall we?"

He flicked his wrist, words from the old religion hissing from his lips. Merlin flinched back, but nothing seemed to happen. Still, the man smiled and stepped back.

"I'll see you soon, Emrys."

"Wait!"

Merlin started down the steps. At once the man span around, lifting his hand. His eyes flashed gold, Merlin heard someone shout his name. Then he was falling into a void of darkness, completely and utterly alone.


Gwen was moving up the stairs, her arms laden with clean linen when she heard the crash. She looked up, her eyes widening.

"My lady?" she called.

She heard a dim shriek, and the linen fell from her hands. She raced up the steps, her voice rising shrilly.

"My lady!"

She reached the top of the stairs and threw open the door to Morgana's room. Morgana was on the floor, clutching at her desk, her eyes wide with panic. She was struggling to breathe, her face pale and blank.

"Gwen!" she gasped. "I... I can't..."

Her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped to the floor, unmoving. Gwen's heart lurched and she dived forwards, grabbing Morgana and pulling her over onto her back.

"Morgana!" she cired, completely forgetting her title. "Morgana, wake up!"

She made no response. Gwen looked up at the sounds of footsteps - two guards had appeared at the door.

"Get help!" she ordered, tightening her grip on Morgana. "Hurry!"

They turned and ran. Gwen looked down at her, her heart in her mouth. "My lady... Morgana, please!"

How had this happened? Her mistress had been perfectly healthy just a few minutes ago, and yet now... Gwen swallowed hard, a hair-raising thought pressing against her mind. Magic... someone had cursed Morgana.

I'm sorry this chapter was so short but the next one is going to be really important and I just had to fit this bit in beforehand. Hope you enjoyed it! Please REVIEW!!

SUPRNTRAL LVR.