Chapter 14

Alyssa was waiting. She didn't like waiting. The entire situation she was currently stuck in was too much for her to sit still like this. But when she promised Merlin they would talk, her mind wouldn't focus long enough to let her do anything else. She was currently sitting in his room, on his bed, just waiting for him. This was what she hated, the waiting game.

She shouldn't have to wait much longer though. The group had returned over an hour ago. Merlin was simply held up by Arthur now. Which gave her time to think on what had happened with Mordred.

The whole thing was crazy. Mordred's memories had broken through, if only for a moment. For a moment, he was her brother again, not some stranger that thought she was insane. The spell had been weakened by the sight of Alyssa with her wings, a sight that he had seen many times over the course of his life. For some strange reason it had broken the spell for a short amount of time. Now she just had to make it happen again so that she could get him into the circle for her own little spell.

The door to Gaius's offices creaked open downstairs. Someone was walking across the large room and heading for the stairs. Alyssa heard the creaking and popping noises of each stair as they slowly came up. They stopped at the door to Merlin's bedroom and they opened it.

Merlin stood there in the doorway, staring at her for a while. He came in and closed the door behind. Alyssa started speaking before he turned around.

"What do you want to know Merlin?"

"I need to know what happened out there in the forest. I need to know why you have wings on your back. I need to know the truth." As he spoke, Merlin turned around and faced her. His anger was coming off of him in waves. Alyssa couldn't tell him the whole truth, not when it meant that she could destroy the future he and Arthur would build. What was she going to do?

"I can't tell you Merlin," her eyes filled with tears. She looked down, unable to face him. Her heart was breaking and her magic was screaming at her. She stood but was unable to try going around him to the door. She went for the window at the other end of the room instead. "Merlin," she turned to face him with silent tears streaming down her face. He looked just as devastated as she felt. "I'm so sorry."

And with this whispered sentence she flew through the window, leaving him to his loneliness and heartbreak.

Alyssa returned to her room the next morning. She had cried herself dry through the long flight and she was determined to act like everything was normal today. She got dressed and went up to Gwen's chambers for a full day of work that she very much needed.

She was hoping against all the bad luck she seemed to carry around with her that she wouldn't see Merlin today. The awkward and pain that would occur upon seeing him was just too much for her to deal with right now.

She'd made it to Gwen's rooms without incident and the morning went by quickly and uneventful with no sightings of the young wizard. Lunch went by without he or Arthur showing themselves. She was starting to get worried when dinner approached and she hadn't heard the usual angry shouts of an annoyed Arthur at his clumsy manservant. Then, a few moments after Alyssa had found her way into Gaius's chambers, a searing pain had flashed through her body.

She cried out and would have fallen to the ground on her face had Gaius not been there to catch her. The pain was burning through her body and she was unable to control her cries. Gaius laid her down on the large chair in the corner of the room and started running around for something to get rid of her pain. All Alyssa could do was watch him and scream out at the pain. Something was wrong. She felt like she was being stabbed in her chest. Though the pain was racking her entire body, it was the sharpest in her chest. But no one had touched her. Where was this pain coming form?

"Gaius? Where is Merlin?"

"He, the knights and Arthur went to the Disir this morning."

He spoke as he stirred something in a cauldron. It reeked terribly, but Alyssa was too distracted by her pain to notice it. Gaius rushed through the potion and raced to Alyssa, pouring the liquid down her throat. The pain didn't recede, put her vision darkened and eventually the entire world went completely black. The last thing she heard was something about silver eyes and glowing crystal necklaces.