Hooray a quicker update this time and, as some of you guessed correctly from chapter five, Freya has returned! :) This chapter will have lots of dialogue but will hopefully shine a bit more light on her sudden appearance etc.

And while we are on the subject of Freya I have a quick question to ask you all - would you like to see any Freya/Merlin? I usually write Mergana rather than Freylin but am perfectly happy to write it for this story, however what I think is important is that you are happy with any Freylin in the story because the summary didn't tell you that there would be any Freya/Merlin. I am happy writing them either way, but what is your preference? Should Merlin and Freya be friends or a couple? And speaking of couples are there any other romances you'd like to see in the story? For example if you'd like to see more or less Arwen etc.

So, if you have a view on Freylin please let me know, in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter Eight

Freya

Through the trees Freya gave a small smile. "Hello Merlin," she said. She looked exactly the same as she did on the day he had said goodbye to her, as if not an hour had passed since then, but this time she was so, so alive.

Suddenly, Merlin found he could move his legs again and he run through the trees towards her. They was only a short distance between them but somehow Freya seemed so far away. When he reached her he threw his arms around her. He had no idea how she could be standing here or why, but when he hugged her he knew it was not a dream or a delusion. He could feel beneath his fingers the soft material of Morgana's dress he had given her on the day she died, he could hear her breathing and he could smell her hair. She was really there. Freya was back.

"I can't believe it-" Merlin started to say, but soon found himself lost for words. Tears of joy stung his eyes. He held tightly onto her as if worried she would slip away from him like water through his fingers. But the seconds passed and she was still there.

Freya laughed with joy as she hugged him back. "Neither can I," she admitted, her voice slightly muffled by the embrace.

"Merlin? What's going on?" Merlin managed to tear himself away from Freya to turn and see that Arthur, Gwen and Morgana had walked through the trees to find them, all looking shocked and confused as they stared at him and Freya.

"This is Freya," Merlin quickly explained, "she's a friend of mine. She...she went away a long time ago and I...how are you here?" He asked, his thoughts and words a confused bundle of joy as he turned back to Freya, who now stood by his side.

She smiled again, the same smile she gave Merlin when they used to talk together, hidden away from the soldiers hunting her, but this time there was no fear in her eyes. "I've been given a second chance," she said simply.

"But...how? Why? When...who..." There were so many questions Merlin wanted to ask her, and in his flabbergasted state they came out all at once in nothing but a babble of sound. It made Freya laugh, the sound of her laugh, once lost, warmed his heart.

"Don't worry about any of that, not for now, I'm back, and that's all that matters." She said.

Merlin grinned, "You're back." He repeated.

"Sorry, but Freya, how did you find us?" Morgana asked, interrupting their reunion. She sounded a little worried about this stranger who had appeared out of the trees.

"I've been looking for you." Was all Freya replied.

"But how did you know we would be here?" Merlin asked.

Freya shrugged, "I just...had a feeling. I knew you would be leaving Camelot and I knew I had to find you. So I tried the forest, something told me you would be here." Before Merlin could question this she looked away from him and addressed his three companions, "I'm sorry if I startled you," she said, "I didn't mean to, I promise I'm not going to hurt you or cause any trouble. As Merlin's said my name's Freya," she added as way of an introduction.

There was a pause, then Gwen stepped forward and held out a hand, "I'm Gwen," she said. "I must admit I think you gave us a good scare, but any friend of Merlin is a friend of mine."

Freya smiled back as she shook her hand, "Thank you."

Morgana didn't seem too sure about Gwen's statement, but she too smiled and stepped forward to introduce herself. "It's good to find another friend out here, where did you and Merlin meet?" She asked casually.

"In Camelot," Freya said.

"She was visiting for...a brief time," Merlin put in.

"I don't think we had the pleasure of meeting while you were in Camelot, I'm Morgana." Morgana gave one of her kindest, yet Merlin could tell fakest, smiles.

"Pleased to meet you to, I have heard of the Lady Morgana," Freya admitted. She held out a hand for Morgana to shake, she did so but seemed a little more reluctant than Gwen.

"That's a nice dress," Morgana added suddenly, looking Freya up and down when their hands broke apart.

Whether Freya could tell that this friendly face was having a hard time hiding hostility, she didn't show it, she just smiled and said, "Thank you, Merlin got it for me."

"He has good taste," Morgana muttered, her eyes darting to Merlin for a moment, there was a distrustful look in them that she could not conceal.

Now Arthur approached Freya, who looked almost afraid of her. He certainly didn't seem like the Arthur Freya might have met a few weeks ago. "I don't think we've met either." He said quietly.

For a moment Freya lost her smile, "We met briefly once, but you would not have recognised me then. But still, all that has been done is forgiven." She showed no sign of fear as he faced the son of Uther Pendragon and hold out a hand to shake.

Arthur looked a little confused by this statement, but then he noticed a mark on her upper arm which she was holding out to him. "Are you a Druid?" He asked.

For the first time since she had appeared out of the trees there was a flicker of sadness on Freya's face, "I was, a long time ago." She admitted.

Arthur glanced round at the others, then said, "Could you help us? Could you help...me?" There was desperation in his eyes, Merlin had never seen his friend plead for something, but he had a strong feeling this is what it would like. "I've been cursed with magic, we've been looking for Druids to try and find a cure, we thought your people might be able to help. Can you help us?"

"I do not have the skill of the Druids and I have not been one of them for a long time," Freya explained, she looked genuinely sorry for the Prince, "but I promise you my Lord, I shall help you in any way I can. I have a knowledge of curses, I experienced a terrible one myself so know how you must be feeling, and no one should face it alone. You are lucky to have such loyal companions. I am happy to travel with you to help you find any of my people so they can answer some of your questions. I am here to help, and I must admit I have nowhere else to go."

"Of course you can," Merlin said before anyone else could consider the question.

"Wait a moment Merlin," Morgana said suddenly, "I understand you are pleased to see your friend again, but we do not know Freya, none of us have met her before, we don't know if she can be trusted to travel with us."

"Of course she is!" Merlin snapped, in another time and place he may have understand the ward's concern, but he was furious at Morgana for suggesting such a thing. If the others agreed with her she would be turned away, after he had only just found her again.

"It's all right," Freya said surprisingly calmly, "I understand, you've only just met me in the middle of the woods outside the safety of Camelot. I could have a great many secret intentions."

Morgana bit her lip, then said quickly and curtly, "Of course I mean no offence, but we cannot offer everyone who we meet on this journey an opportunity to travel with us, it is dangerous and not everyone out there is friendly."

"Oh believe me, I know there are many people out in the wide world who do not have good intentions," Freya said, and her eyes narrowed into a piercing stare. Merlin had never seen Freya angry before, her glare was almost frightening and seemed to say much more than her words did. Morgana shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Exactly," Morgana replied, trying not to show her unease, "although Merlin says that you can be trusted, how can we be sure?"

"My word should be enough," Merlin retorted, raising his voice aggressively. "If I say that Freya can be trusted then she can be trusted."

"Yes but-"

"That's enough," Arthur interrupted before the debate transformed into a fully-fledged argument. The five of them were now standing in a small circle surrounded by the trees, and despite the annoyance in their eyes both Merlin and Morgana kept their mouths tight shut as the Prince spoke. "I understand Morgana's worry, but we need all the help we can get. If Freya was a Druid she can help us find them."

"Tell me Arthur, when did you start trusting people with magic?" Morgana snapped.

Arthur glowered at her, "It seems I have no choice," he growled.

"But we are putting our trust into a stranger!" Morgana persisted.

"I know!" Arthur sighed, "I know," he repeated. His eyes darted to the ground and he looked conflicted. He wanted Freya to help them, but he knew Morgana was right.

There was a short, tense silence. Then Freya spoke, "Many people over the years have abandoned me because of who I am, Merlin was one of the few who didn't. Now I ask his friends to give me a chance too. I know you were brought up to despise those with magic, but I am here to do nothing more than to help you Arthur. It's up to you."

Arthur sighed again, Freya was gazing at him with calm, unblinking eyes. Morgana was glowering at him, Gwen looked worried and Merlin was tensely waiting for the Prince's decision.

"If you think you can help Freya, I would be grateful if you stayed with us," Arthur said eventually.

Merlin grinned, for the first time in days he felt so happy he thought he was going to laugh out loud and he wanted to pull Arthur into a tight hug. But he restrained himself, knowing that at the best of times the Prince was not a fan of hugs, so instead he hugged Freya again, who was also smiling broadly. Gwen was looking relieved that a brutal argument had been avoided, but Morgana was looking less pleased.

"Thank you Arthur," Freya said when she broke away from Merlin, "I promise I will not let you down. To start with I can tell you that you will not find Druids in this forest, I hear that Uther has been very harsh to my people these past few months, so they will be hiding far from the borders of Camelot. But there are many other forests where they may dwell, secluded areas such as these is where you are most likely to find them, so you are on the right path, what you must do now is keeping going."

Arthur gave a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you Freya, I can tell that I have made the right decision. We will leave this forest as soon as we can, and I hope in the meantime you will be able to tell us more about what you know."

"I will try my best," said Freya. Morgana was looking like a child and had been forced to give away her favourite wooden horse to Freya, who she strongly disliked.

After that the now five companions started moving through the trees again, however the atmosphere remained tense. Arthur was still feeling uneasy about his curse and Morgana was angry about who was trailing behind them with Merlin, talking in hushed voices. Gwen could tell her mistress was not happy but stayed quiet and kept her head down. Merlin however felt that a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders and believed the tense atmosphere had vanished as if carried away on a strong breeze. He hadn't noticed he was still grinning.

"I never thought we would be able to walk side by side, I'm so happy that you're here," he said quietly to Freya as they walked through the trees.

Freya smiled, "Me neither. I never thought I would stand on mortal ground again, especially not with you by my side. It is more than I ever could wish for."

"But...how is it possible? How can you be here? I remember I...I held you in my arms and laid you in the boat and..." Merlin swallowed, despite Freya walking by his side it was still very hard to think of the moment he had said goodbye to her, when she had closed her eyes for what he thought was the last time. He remembered the boat drifting gently through the water and with a few mourn-filled words fire sprang up and began to lick the insides of the boat, removing Freya from the world entirely. Yet here she was.

Freya could tell he was upset, so she took his hand and squeezed it as though to remind him that she was here. "Someone out there decided that I should return. I wish I could tell you who, but you would never guess their name and if I told you you would never believe me. Let's just say it was someone who took the opportunity of a second chance and decided to give me one too, a chance to repay for all the terrible things I had done in life when I became a ravaging beast."

This reminded Merlin of something, "Do you still...have the curse?" He asked delicately. He didn't want to suggest that Freya was a danger, but if she turned in the middle of the night while the other four were sleeping and wasn't able to control herself...it could be a quick and disastrous end to their journey. He still remembered the horror he felt when he realised the roaring black beast was Freya, yet he hadn't been afraid of her.

But fortunately Freya shook her head. "That curse was lifted by the same person who brought me out of the water. However there was, shall we say, a price that I had to pay for such generosity." She said.

Freya did not seem concerned about this, but her words greatly worried Merlin. "A price? What sort of price?"

"Don't worry about it for now. You have nothing to fear Merlin, let us just be happy that we are able to walk together," said Freya gently. "There are many things that I cannot tell you for now. I think for now though we should focus on me gaining the trust of your friends and helping Arthur."

"I still don't even know how you found us, how you knew we would be here." Merlin said, unable to put his mind at rest.

"Let us just say I reliable source informed me of Arthur's current problems and thought that you may be heading this way and that I could help." Freya suddenly lowered her voice to a low whisper, "and that you should not trust the Lady Morgana."

Merlin swallowed uneasily. These words offered no comfort for him at all. He was grateful that Freya was with him and had come to help, but how did someone know what had happened to Arthur and that they were hearing this way? Had the news spread across the whole of Camelot about the Prince's curse, perhaps even to other Kingdoms? Quite probably. He assumed the 'reliable source' was the same person who had brought Freya back to him. They had to be a very powerful person to do such a thing, even if Freya had to pay an unknown price for it. He was not comfortable with the thought of powerful practitioners aware of Arthur's situation and of where they were heading, even if they wanted to help.

But worried him the most was that Freya had confirmed his fears. Morgana was not to be trusted.

Merlin was silent for a while as he felt the weight of the world beginning to return to his shoulders once more. He realised the appearance of Freya had merely put aside the troubles of his life for now, it had not solved them. However when he looked round and saw Freya smiling up at him he couldn't help but smile back and feel comforted. Whatever was going to happen, he was glad that she was by his side.