Thank you for ALL the reviews I've gotten!

I'm sorry for the late update but school started this week after a 3 day weekend and I was busy. The next update will be a late too... sorry.

Schak – (Schak asked how Merlin knew what a woman is) You bring up a good question. He knows what a woman is. At the last chapter, he was about 12 to 13 years old. Gaius and Kilgarrah had been teaching Merlin for his whole life. Simply by books and stories, Merlin learned. He knows what a woman is because of Gaius. Gaius is a physician and has plenty of books and knowledge. However, Merlin, since he has never really seen a real woman, won't be able to tell who is a man or a woman at first. You'll learn in this chapter. ;)

Merlin not leaving during his childhood-
1. he is too scared
2. the dungeon is big and it is like a maze to someone who has never been outside or even those who have
3. Gaius won't help him because he is scared too.
4. Merlin is a stranger to the world. He will likely stand out.
5. Kilgarrah doesn't want Merlin to go out yet
because 1. he is fond of him and doesn't want to risk it. 2. it isn't Merlin's time to go out yet (you know what it is with ancient wise old dragons ;-)

Chapter 5

Uther leaned over his desk. He resisted the urge to yawn. It would never to for a stern king to yawn in front of his subjects. At the moment, he was listening to lords. Lord Grifton was commenting on a nearby village that was pillaged by bandits. King Uther waved his hands over the matter. The lords took that as a no.

After more discussion, most of the lords went away leaving the rest. The rest had been him since Uther became king.

"My lord?"

"Yes, Lord Tyden?"

Lord Tyden was a short but sturdy man. He had a short wispy beard. Lord Tyden was the oldest of all the lords and even the king. "Sire, we have been wondering about the sorcerer that was punished to the cave."

Uther frowned, "The sorcerer?" He remembered, of course. It had been in his mind for days. Yes, the sorcerer. Haven't it been about 15 years? Yes, perhaps.

"Yes, sire."

The king leaned back in his chair. He asked, "What about the sorcerer?"

Another lord, Lord Goug, spoke up, "Isn't it time, sire, for a check on the sorcerer?"

"Why would I permit to that?" Uther narrowed his eyes at Lord Goug, "Are you worried about him, Lord Goug."

Lord Goug immediately shook his head, "Of course not, sire. We just wonder if the sorcerer have escaped."

"Impossible. Without any guidance or knowledge, no one could walk up from the caves. It's almost a maze." The lords agreed. Their King was right. He was always right. Yes, King Uther was right. "But, I do see sense in your comment. I shall think on it. Leave. The discussion is finished." The lords bowed and left.

Uther looked over his papers. He sighed and slumped back into his chair. Looking up, Uther said with a desperate sad voice, "Oh, Igraine, what am I doing wrong?"

Lady Morgana was a strong minded and a beautiful woman. However, as beautiful as she was, she was not naïve. In fact, Morgana was devious in a clever way and could crawl out in a situation that was complicated as a maze which was what she exactly needed for her upcoming adventure. The lady had been walking around and had overheard her father speaking with his lords.

She walked away as if she hadn't even been there thinking of the possibility of a great adventure. When Morgana didn't see anyone around her, she spoke to herself, "A sorcerer... under Camelot? Hmm, I wonder what happened."

Morgana reached her room. She, being a lady, had a gorgeous rich room full of her belongings. She waited for a maid, Gwen. Morgana smiled. Such a wonderful friend, Gwen is. She looked outside. The sun was setting and the sky was getting darker and darker. The view was breathtaking as it was every night. The red from the setting sun streaked across the sky. She could still see all of Camelot clearly in the darkening sky. Closer to the castle, she could see citizens of Camelot still walking around, most of them still working. There was a little boy walking with his mother trying to pull away from her hand. The mother held on the excited child. Morgana laughed quietly. Just looking outside was entertaining.

The door opened and Gwen came in, "Hello, my lady."

Morgana turned her head to face her, "Hello, Gwen." She looked back at the window, "Isn't it beautiful, Gwen? Just look!"

"It is beautiful, my lady." Gwen made her bed, "It's almost time to sleep."

"Oh, it is too early."

"You already had dinner, Morgana."

"I did."

"The sun is setting. We must get you ready for bed."

"It is too early."

"My Lady, please, you had a tiring day. You hardly had any sleep last night," Gwen pleaded. Morgana sighed. She had a nightmare the night before. She hadn't had one in years.

"I know but I can't possibly sleep now!" Morgana turned to Gwen and sat next to her. "Gwen, you couldn't believe what I heard today. It was terrible but very interesting."

"What is it, Morgana?"

Morgana ran to her door and opened it. After checking that no one was in the hallways, she walked back to Gwen. "Gwen, did you know that there are caves under camelot?"

Gwen frowned, "I believe so."

"I overheard Uther and the lords about an hour ago. They said something about a sorcerer being prisoned in the caves for 15 years!" Gwen gasped and stared incrediously at Morgana.

"A... sorcerer... under Camelot?"

Morgana nodded. Thinking quickly, "And we are going to go find the sorcerer."

Gwen gasped louder, "But, but... it's a sorcerer! The sorcerer was imprisoned for a reason, Morgana."

"Please, Gwen. I must have a look," she stared pleadingly into her maid.

Gwen sighed, "All right. I'll get you your cloak, my lady."

"Thank you, Gwen."

They snuck by the guards guarding the dungeon. Gwen and Morgana walked down to the caves. It was difficult but Morgana knew the way having being Uther's ward. Uther, protective of his daughter and son, told them of most of the passage ways in the palace of Camelot. The children had forgotten most of them although Morgana remembered seeing a map of the dungeon.

It took them half an hour to arrive to the mouth of the big cave. It was dark but they could see fire lit in the caves. They wondered how but concluded it was out of magic. Morgana stepped into the cave but Gwen stayed behind. The Lady looked around. There were rocks everywhere but out of the corner of her eye she saw a small corner full of books, paper, and other utensils. Few of them were clothes. She walked towards them but quickly hid behind a rock when she heard a noise. Gwen gasped and ran to Morgana. She hid with her.

Merlin walked away from the small creek he always washed in. Feeling refreshed, he whistled with a bright smile. The caves bored him, that was true, but that was no reason not to be happy! Kilgarrah was out in the caves as he usually did during this time. Swinging his arms, Merlin walked to his spot and placed the wash cloth along with his other things.

He went to the edge. Merlin picked up a small rock and threw it to the darkness. After doing that for a minute, he decided to have fun. He took a rock, threw it, and said a spell. The rock glowed. He heard a gasp or at least something like a gasp. Merlin frowned. The rock hit the floor with a loud thud spreading a pregnant silence in the air.

Merlin walked towards where he heard the gasp. Was it the wind perhaps? No, the wind mostly came from the far end of the caves. Not from the entrance. He was sure it was a gasp. Was it Gaius coming to scare him like the silly old man he was? Or was it a simple rat?

The young warlock didn't want to take chances and yelled, "Who's there?" Nothing. "Anyone?" Merlin looked around, "Gaius, is that you?" Another loud gasp. It sounded different though. Merlin narrowed his eyes, "Show your self!" He summoned a ball of light to see better.

Another silence. Morgana, at this moment, had her heart beating against her rib cage. The sorcerer was definitely a sorcerer but didn't seem very harmful aside form the blunt use of magic. The sorcerer shouted again, "Who's there?" She looked at Gwen. Gwen had wide eyes and a hand on her mouth. "Show your self!" She could see in front of her a shadow because of a sudden light. She made up her mind and stood up.

Gwen gasped and whispered, "My lady!"

Morgana looked at her and shook her head. To the sorcerer, she told him, "Please, we mean no harm." The sorcerer in front of her was a strange sight. His hair, still wet, was slightly curly and short, although his the end of his hair looked like it was cut by an unexperienced person. He was taller than her, about as tall as Arthur. The sorcerer's skin was pale. Paler than a human. It was almost grayish leaving a creepy sort of feeling around the sorcerer. His clothes were old and torn but a red scarf hung around his neck diminishing some of the creepy air around him. The sorcerer's eyes narrowed making her feeling scrutinized.

"We?"

Gwen stood up and bowed her head to the sorcerer.

The sorcerer asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Lady Morgana and this is my maid, Guinevere."

Gwen added, "We are harmless, my lord. We only came because of curiosity."

Merlin blinked. He looked at the two strangers. They wore strange clothes. It didn't look like trousers. They had very long hair. It looked silky and soft and Merlin resisted the urge to run up to them and touch it. They looked female because they had what Gaius had told them females had. Merlin was curious himself. Lady Morgana and Guinevere? Kilgarrah said they had a destiny and a set future. He had asked if they could change their future and Kilgarrah replied it was possible.

"Are you female?

Morgana was surprised by his question. Of course she was female. Did she look like a male? Or even an animal? She nodded, "Yes, my lord."

"Why do you call me lord? I'm not a lord."

"I apologize but we just assumed that you were," Morgana thought after a moment that the sorcerer being a lord was impossible. He didn't look or dress like a lord. "What shall we call you?"

"What are you wearing?"

"Clothes?" Morgana stared at Gwen. Gwen shrugged.

"No, specifically."

"A dress?"

"Yes! A dress?"

"Do only female wear it?"

Gwen giggled quietly. Morgana smiled, "Well, yes, unless the male has the need to."

Merlin frowned, "Oh." Merlin motioned the girls to come closer. He brought his blanket closer and placed it on the floor. He motioned them to sit on it. They obliged. Merlin stayed standing and stared strangely at them.

Morgana cleared her throat, "What is your name? I can't keep calling you my lord, could I?"

Merlin pursued his lips, "I suppose not. Can I trust you?"

Morgana nodded happily, "Yes! We are not allowed to be here and we could be punished for this. We wouldn't dare tell anyone."

The young warlock smiled, "Okay, my name is Merlin."

"Merlin," Gwen smiled. It was the name of a bird, somehow fitting. "Have you been here for your whole life?"

Merlin shook his head, "Not for the first few months of my life. Than I was prisoned here."

"Must have been terrible," said Gwen.

"I wouldn't know. I don't exactly know the experience of being somewhere other than the caves."

Morgana frowned, "Why didn't you ever leave?"

"I have my reasons," Merlin answered. In truth, he was afraid. He knew no one would know him but even with an identity no one knew of, he could not survive on his own. Gaius would make him go back to the caves again and Kilgarrah certainly couldn't follow him around everywhere.

"You can't possibly stay here forever!" Gwen reclaimed.

"Why not?"

"Don't you want to see what's outside? Surely you were not destined to be trapped here? Aren't you curious?" Morgana tempted him.

"Yes, but... I am not allowed to go outside."

"Didn't stop us from coming here. I am the Lady Morgana. I'm sure I'll be a great help if you are arrested."

"It won't hurt to just look but I must come back as soon as I can," Merlin looked at Morgana and her servant.

Morgana smiled, "Let's go Merlin. Don't be afraid. We'll help you." Gwen smiled at Merlin nervously.

The young warlock felt his heart thump loudly and grinned, "All right." He took a step toward the entrance. Was this right? How would he survive? What about Kilgarrah? Gaius? Kilgarrah said it was my destiny to protect the Once and Future King but how could he protect him without being outside? Yes. He was doing the right thing. Merlin looked around. Just a few days outside. He'll have to face the consequences of his leaving but that was for later. Now, it was time to face his destiny.

Sorry about the spelling and grammar. I hurried a bit on the last part... I'm lazy... I know... I wanted to put more but... I didn't want you guys to wait. Critiques, questions are welcomed. Compliments I love ;)