THE FOREST OF NEMIA
The rain hammered hard.
Merlin and Arthur landed on their fronts, face down in a load of moss and bushes.
Thunder and lightning tore at the sky in an epic battle, and Merlin's heart hammered.
The king coughed and spluttered and shoved himself up onto his arms.
"Morgana…" He seethed, "How did she know…"
"Eveline didn't tell her." Merlin pushed himself up onto his knees, staring at the cup of life in his hands.
He could see his reflection in its golden side; even through the rain and emotion in his eyes.
"She didn't tell her I know she wouldn't…"
"It is quite obvious Merlin…" Arthur hissed furiously, "That she had no interest in helping me, she only wanted to get me killed…"
"Well you seem to be doing a pretty good job of that on your own!" Merlin shouted at him and shoved himself to stand upright.
Arthur glared at him furiously, jaw locked, as he stood too.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Thunder shook the earth.
"It means that maybe if you have told Gwen about what you were going to do, and trusted her to support your decision or change your mind otherwise," Merlin yelled, "That you might have seen that this is one of the stupidest ideas that you have ever thought up!"
Arthur thundered.
"You have no right…"
"You have a right to be fair to your wife and honour all the promises you have ever made her!" Merlin cried, "I know what you feel for Gwen and all that you would do for her, but this… this Arthur... this was for you!"
"No it wasn't!"
"Yes it was!" Merlin shouted, "If it wasn't and it was for Gwen you would have told her…"
"Why do you keep saying that?" Arthur demanded through the rain.
"Because it is true!" Merlin snapped loudly.
Arthur strode one pace closer.
"You didn't have to come, you didn't have to accompany me…"
"Of course I did!" merlin shouted, "You wouldn't have left me in Camelot just in case I told Gwen, and I had to come because you re my friend and I thought for one stupid moment that you would see just how much this was a bad idea and I wouldn't lose you!"
His voice rung in the air and Arthur was furious.
He wasn't wrong.
"Eveline betrayed me." He hissed, "she allowed me think that she would help me when really she was with Morgana…"
"Morgana came to kill you and Eveline sent us to safety!" Merlin cried, "We owe her our lives, you should be thankful that you still have yours for forever after your display and this whole idea."
Arthur gritted his teeth and turned away.
Merlin stared at him, shaking his head in the rain.
His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open as he gasped for breath from the shouting.
Arthur drew his sword and slammed it down into the dirt, running his hands through his hair and gritting his teeth.
Merlin stared at him.
"You really just don't get how much people would miss you if you were gone… how important your life is, do you?" He whispered.
Arthur straightened and drew in a deep breath.
"There are plenty of people able to wear the crown, my wife as regent for one…"
His voice was tight.
Merlin narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"Nah." His voice was a low breath, "There will never be another like you Arthur."
The king straightened and turned to stare at his manservant.
"I have a duty to the people of my kingdom to provide an heir with my wife." He said.
Merlin stared at him.
"Well as you have your duty I have mine."
Arthur straightened.
"And you think that you can understand the burden of such a duty?"
Merlin inclined his head and drew in a deep breath.
"I understand duty and destiny better than you think Arthur." He breathed, "And I know, that it is only a matter of time, before the duty you speak of is fulfilled."
He stepped closer and Arthur stared at the floor.
Merlin watched him carefully.
"You and Gwen will have a child Arthur, I swear it."
Arthur swallowed.
"If only there were some way of knowing… if I knew it, I don't think I would ever have started this… if I had known… what Gaius said about my father and mother, and the magic that I am born from… it wouldn't have made a difference I don't think."
Merlin stared at his friend.
"Perhaps you should speak to Eveline."
Their eyes snapped up in the same instant to stare at one another.
"Eveline!" Arthur whispered, "Morgana…"
"She didn't betray us." Merlin said and shoved the cup of life at him.
"She needs our help!"
Arthur watched as his servant turned and raced through the trees.
"Merlin where are you going?" Arthur bellowed.
Lightning ripped the sky.
"To help her!" Merlin shouted back.
Arthur gritted his teeth and picked up his sword.
He raced after him.
"Merlin!"
THE ROYAL CHAMBERS
Rain hammered at the window.
Gwen was stood staring out of the glass, her arms wrapped around herself.
Tears trailed down her face and she swallowed.
She drew in a stuttering breath and her hands shook as she moved them to rest on her stomach.
Her palms slid down over her belly and she bit her lips together, straightening and dropping her hands away.
Her breathing was shallow and she shuddered as she walked to the bed.
Her hand reached out and she held onto the wood as she sunk to sit on the edge of the bed.
Her hand fell away and into her lap, while her other reached to run along the covers over his side of the bed.
She gritted her teeth and her eyes burned.
"Argh!" She cried in anger and heart break, slamming her fist against the pillow that was his. Her legs shook and she slipped from the edge of the bed to kneel on the floor, her hands moving to her face as she fought not to sob.
Her breathing was raspy.
She lowered her hands into her lap and stared at her wedding ring on her finger.
The tips of her fingers shook as she tightened her hands around one another.
Anger seared through her veins and tears dripped.
Her heart broke.
What had Arthur done?
THE ISLE OF THE BLESSED
"Does it not sicken you that Mordred told me that you were Emrys?"
Morgana sneered and stepped closer through the driving rain and swirling fog to laugh at Eveline.
But the Parlevine child stood tall and stared with superior eyes at Morgana.
"I knew he would."
The corner of Eveline's mouth lifted into a slight laugh.
Morgana narrowed her eyes.
"You are not surprised that I know who you are?"
This time Eveline did laugh at her.
It was piercing and cold, and full of a power that Morgana would not admit to herself that she felt threatened by.
The Parlevine child arched both her eyebrows and walked closer slightly.
The two high priestesses circled one another slowly.
"You forget my power Morgana," Eveline bit at her patronisingly, "I knew that Morded would tell you, I told him too…"
"So you have a death wish." Morgana sneered, "It is not really surprising, considering how alone you are."
Eveline narrowed her eyes against the rain and Morgana's words.
"With my power Morgana I am never truly alone."
"Why do you not run?" Morgana cried.
Her eyes betrayed the unnerved emotion that coursed through her veins at being around Eveline.
"I do not see anything to run from." Eveline smirked and laughed once more.
Morgana's anger raged in her heart and eyes.
She stopped walking.
"Then you are more foolish than I dare hope…"
Her hand shot out in front of her and her eyes flashed.
Flames shot from her palm but Eveline stopped walking in the same instant.
The Parlevine child's hand shot out and similar white ice shot from her palm, spraying and charging into the fire that Morgana had conjured.
Both of them gritted their teeth against the force of the other ones attack.
Their eyes shook and their awes locked.
After a few seconds both of them pulled away, cradling their hands and glaring at one another.
They started to circle one another again.
"You turned yourself into an old man when we met last, so I wouldn't know it was you…" Morgana cried.
Thunder cracked.
Lightning burned.
"Did I?" Eveline mocked her, "It must have slipped my mind…"
Morgana could never guess the truth.
She could never think that she was not Emrys.
Morgana gave a cry of rage and her hand shot out once more.
"Jenair!"
Eveline lifted her hand and snatched the ball of flame from the rain in the air.
She clasped her palms together over her head and the fire disappeared, evaporating into a cloud of smoke and steam.
Eveline lowered her hands to her sides and glared at Morgana.
One of her eyebrows mockingly lifted.
"And yet you fear me." She sneered.
Morgana drew in a short and angry breath.
Her eyes burned as the rain continued to hammer.
Thunder rumbled and the earth shook slightly.
"I shall cut you down where you stand…" Morgana cried, "Where you stand Emrys, and you shall not be my doom…"
"Ah Emrys…" Eveline laughed somewhat manically.
She held her hands out to the sides and spun around, giggling at all that she could see happening.
"Emrys…" She laughed and her eyes were wide.
Morgana stared at her.
The Parlevine child raced through the rain, her hair flying around her face in the wind, to push herself to jump and crouch atop the stone table.
"Emrys…" She held her hands out to her sides, staring at Morgana.
The high priestess seethed.
Something about her manic manner unnerved her.
"Emrys, standing for Eveline, Mauve, Rose, Yslaine, Sarah…." Eveline cried, "Five names for a child raised to honour the Parlevine and Avalon five greatest qualities, five qualities needed to raise someone from the dead, the five qualities that helped me, Emrys help Queen Guinevere to resurrect King Arthur."
Morgana was furious.
Eveline laughed at her, eyes triumphant in the rain.
"A live that can raise the dead Morgana, how do you expect to combat such a force?"
"I shall be rid of you!" Morgana thundered, "Then I shall be unstoppable!"
Eveline glared at her, her face falling stony and silent.
She lifted the corner of her lip in a sneer.
Her eyes glinted with something that Morgana did not understand.
"We shall see."
Morgana lifted her hand furiously.
"Only one of us will…"
"Then kill me!" Eveline held her hands out to her side and stared at Morgana.
The high priestess in black stopped short.
Eveline shook her head slightly in a bitter mock.
"I don't fear you Morgana… it will be a release to die, to free my head of all that I have seen, heard and envisioned." She hissed, "So just do it."
Morgana shook and thundered.
"I shall be queen!" She screamed.
Eveline sneered bitterly, her eyes resigned.
Morgana watched as Eveline stepped down from the stone table and walked over to her.
The resignation in the young Parlevine's eyes made Morgana stiffen.
Eveline saw right into her soul.
But all Morgana saw was who she thought was Emrys.
She would not admit that she feared her.
Eveline stared hard at Morgana.
"You shall be the tumble down queen of this story Morgana." Eveline whispered, "And all the world shall mock you."
The fury in Morgana's eyes glinted and her hand ripped under her robes, before it tore forwards.
The blade glinted in the lightning that tore the sky.
The dagger slammed into Eveline's stomach but the Parlevine shield locked her jaw against a gasp, holding Morgana's gaze.
She held it as she slumped to the floor and Morgana retracted the knight.
Morgana cackled and shrieked and sneered down at Eveline.
The Parlevine child gurgled and sneered up at her, her eyes still light.
Morgana sneered.
"How the might have fallen."
She turned and swept away.
"Goodbye Emrys."
Eveline turned her head heavily, her hand pressed over her bleeding side where she lay in the cold rain and grass.
Morgana disappeared into the fog and the some she created.
Eveline laughed and gurgled.
Feet hammered over the ground and ground to a stop.
Merlin and Arthur skidded to stop and stare over the scene as Morgana vanished.
Merlin thought his head would explode.
"Eveline!"
Arthur watched as he hammered over the ground and skidded on his knees at her side, lifting her limp form into his arms.
Arthur swallowed and straightened, walking over slowly.
"Merlin…" She croaked, "Emrys…"
"What has Morgana done to you?" He hissed through his tears.
"She thinks that she has killed Emrys." Eveline managed to smile, "thinks that I am Emrys…"
"Why?" Merlin gasped.
Eveline's eyes and smile faltered.
"Mordred, he told her it was me."
"What?" Merlin hissed.
"Shh…" Eveline leant her head against his shoulder, "I told him too, to protect you… now you can live in peace, without fear… fear of her… and then one day you will be known, as the greatest sorcerer to ever live…"
Stood a pace away, Arthur narrowed his eyes.
His heart shook.
"Merlin?" He gasped.
Merlin gasped and his head snapped around the stare with wide eyes at him, before down at Eveline.
Her eyes had closed.
She let out a long gasp, and her lungs collapsed and she sagged.
Merlin stared at her.
"Eveline." He gasped.
She did not move.
Her eyes did not flutter or flicker.
He swallowed.
"Eveline…" He whispered.
Arthur swallowed and straightened.
Merlin let out a fluttering breath and sniffed, tears falling as he stared down at her face.
"Thank you." He whispered.
The rain hammered.
Thunder shook the earth.
Lightning split the sky.
Eveline was gone.
THE FOREST OF NEMIA
The rain continued to hammer and fall.
The storm still raged over head.
Merlin and Arthur stood on the bank gravely, watching as Eveline's body, surrounded by ferns and rushes in a boat, floated out towards the see.
It burned with the strike of a flint that Arthur had found.
The rain continued to fall.
"She gave her life saving us, protecting us… and she would have helped me do what I wanted to do, in order to gift the kingdom and Guinevere a child." The kings voice was low, "I am indebted to her.
Arthur straightened, glancing at Merlin.
His friend's eyes were locked on the burning boat.
"What she said Merlin, about you being the greatest sorcerer…" The king's voice was rough.
"She was delirious from the loss of blood…" Merlin croaked, "She didn't know what she was saying."
Arthur nodded and turned to face him.
"And what she said of her telling Morgana she was Emrys… did you know?"
Merlin said nothing.
Arthur stared at him.
"You should not have kept from me who she was Merlin, when yesterday Mary Howden came to the castle asking for help because morgana tore apart her village looking for Emrys."
Merlin drew in a stuttering breath, his eyes locked on the burning boat.
"I'm sorry." His voice cracked.
Arthur nodded gravely and stepped backwards, turning away.
"Come on, we need to get back."
"I'm sorry Arthur." Merlin said.
His voice shook.
The king turned back to face him.
"What for?"
Merlin blinked his tears away and swallowed thickly.
He couldn't speak.
Arthur sighed gravely, staring out at the burning boat.
"Come on." He repeated gravely.
"Let's go home."
There was the sound of hammering horse hooves skidding to a stop through the rain and Arthur and Merlin both turned to see Guinevere's white stallion stop in the clearing, and her jump from the saddle, eyes wide and furious, face full of hurt.
Merlin stepped back and melted through the forest.
Arthur swallowed and straightened, staring at his wife.
His face was pale and his heart was heavy.
His eyes were tired.
Gwen glared at him, her face was pale and her eyes were sunken.
Something in her eyes glinted and he straightened.
He sighed gravely.
His heart hurt.
He stared at her and swallowed.
His voice was low and it cracked.
"You know."