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Chapter 15

"What?!" Merlin asked, dumbfounded.

"It's me, silly." Morgana replied and took off the blood crystal, showing him her true face.

"Wha… How … You … you shouldn't be here!" He stuttered.

Morgana put on the necklace around her neck and sliced the Questing Beast's neck, doing a deep cut that would be enough to kill a creature of that size. After that, she cast a spell that made a bruise appear at her forehead, a little bit below the blonde's hair line. That only made Merlin even more tense thinking about exactly how she had managed to keep Arthur in his bed that morning.

Using Arthur's face, she told him, perfectly impersonating her foster brother:

"Come on, Merlin. The other knights will come here at any second, let's tell them the good news."

It did lack an insult or two, but she was spot on imitating Arthur's demeanor. The warlock was still trying to gather his own thoughts to properly reprimand her for exposing herself to such danger when the other men arrived, postponing their conversation.

They cut the beast's head and brought it back to Camelot as a trophy and the knights were relieved that the dangerous threat had come to an end, which only inflamed more their pride and trust in their Prince, but they were also mournful for having lost a valuable companion – Sir Bedivere was one of the oldest knights, he had befriended many others and he would be missed by them.

By the "Prince's" side, Merlin was sulking and the knights thought that it was due to Bedivere's death, but the reason was completely different. He was forced to watch while Morgana disregarded his concern and took Arthur's place in that deadly quest, risking herself and their child, and then she was acting as if what she was doing was a common occurrence, just another day in Camelot where they had to keep Arthur safe at any cost – in fact regardless of the cost.

When they finally arrived in the citadel and the news spread that Prince Arthur had slain the Questing Beast and got back with only a minor scratch. Camelot's population cheered the news and King Uther was there to welcome his victorious son back wearing a proud smile on his face.

"Arthur!" Uther embraced Morgana disguised as the blonde Prince and then patted "his" shoulder and said: "You did a great job! I'm really proud of you, my son!"

"Thank you, Father. I only performed my duty and I'm afraid I must rest immediately. I feel a little bit dizzy." "He" pointed out the bruise and the king nodded and said:

"I'll tell Gaius to have a look at it later. Camelot needs its champion in full health for the feast tonight!"

"Yes, Father. If you may excuse me, I'll go to my chambers for now and rest." "Arthur" turned to the manservant and said: "Come on, Merlin."

"Yes, Sire."

Back in the Prince's chambers, Merlin found his royal pratness passed out on his four-poster bed drooling to his heart's content.

The warlock turned to Morgana/Arthur and said:

"Ok, explain yourself! I thought that we had agreed on this!"

"Arthur is like family to me, Merlin. I couldn't – knowing that my nightmares do come true – just let him hunt the beast and seal his fate – the one you're trying to protect by the way!" She retorted, clearly upset that he wasn't being understanding.

"I understand that, but why did you pretend to agree with my decision and then you acted behind my back?!" He questioned, this time truly losing his temper.

"I had to do it! Don't you understand? Arthur merely being there would be his undoing! I know it! You have to hide your magic in front of him, you wouldn't be able to stop him from getting hurt!" She replied in frustration.

"Then why didn't you try to convince me of that before facing the danger? Why didn't you talk to me?" He asked, truly hurt by her lack of faith in him.

"I'm sorry, Merlin, I truly am." She replied weakly, using Arthur's face and Merlin thought that this was probably the only time he'd hear those words coming from the prince's lips. Seriously, talking to her while she was wearing the crystal was truly confusing.

"For a while … I thought that you were right, that you would protect him by yourself. But then I dreamed again about him being hurt and I just couldn't sit around doing nothing, waiting for it to come true." She said and he could tell she was being genuine.

Merlin sighed in defeat. He couldn't be mad at her for long, he admitted it to himself, even if she was now borrowing the prat's appearance. Nonetheless, they had to reach an agreement about her intervention in saving Camelot and Arthur's life in the near future, so he gathered his own thought and spoke:

"Ok, Morgana, you were concerned about him and this time your plan worked, this time. Although, someday it can fail and you can get hurt, so from now on, please, talk to me first about those matters. I promise you I'll try to include you in saving the day as long as you stay out of harm's way." And he gave her one of his boyish grins.

She/he giggled in happiness and inclined to kiss Merlin when the warlock stopped her with his palm on her lips.

"You're still Arthur!"

She laughed and said: "Oh, sorry, I forgot."

"How are you going to leave this room without raising suspicious? The prat should be sleeping by now and more important, how are we going to convince him that he went to hunt in the first place?" He questioned, raising his brows.

"Easy." She said and took her necklace off, revealing that she was wearing a chainmail, and continued afterwards: "We just have to tell him he killed the beast and got hit in the head, he certainly won't mind taking all the glory to himself. About the other thing, I'll be you and then Gwen will distract the guards and hand me my own crystal. She's waiting nearby."

"So she was your accomplice, huh?" He asked, narrowing his eyes and she smiled wickedly.

"Do you think that only you and Arthur know how to play this game?"

"No, I suspect that you and Gwen are partners in crime for much longer, so you two must have some kind of mind synchrony for schemes." He replied and grinned too.

"Oh, my, Merlin. I thought we had concealed that perfectly." She replied, teasing him.

"Not as much as you'd like to think you did." He replied, this time grabbing her by the waist and pulling her closer to him.

"Oh, and what will you do about it?" She asked, getting even more flirtatious.

"Don't know, do you have any ideas?" He said in a husky tone, decreasing the gap between their lips, their breaths combining.

"Maybe I do." She crashed her lips into his and they kissed passionately, momentarily forgetting that they were still on Arthur's chambers and if the prince woke up in that moment he'd find the situation bizarre, in the best case scenario.

Someone knocked on the door and that certainly made them alert again. The two opened their eyes in fright and disentangled themselves, Morgana jumped to the floor and rolled under Arthur's bed while Merlin went to open the door.

Thankfully it was Gwen, so the warlock rushed her to go inside and closed the door.

"Gwen! Iwasn'texpectingyouhere!" Merlin spoke in a single breath.

"Where is Morgana? What's taking her so long?" The maid whispered, visibly concerned about her friend.

"Here, Gwen." The Lady waved her hand from her hiding place.

"Oh, thank the gods! Please, we must get going, Gaius will come at any minute."

"I need to get dressed first. I can't be me in a chainmail." Morgana replied and Gwen ordered:

"Merlin, turn around!"

The young man did as he was told and Morgana swiftly changed her outfit with her maid's help and dressed a spare gown that was strategically placed on the Prince's chamber the same morning.

"Now the blood for the crystal." Gwen used a needle to pierce Merlin's thumb and the warlock jumped due to the unexpected pain.

"Stay here, Merlin. Don't you dare get out of these chambers!" It was Gwen using a non-expected menacing tone and he wondered who exactly was more serious about them not being caught – if he and Morgana or Guinevere. Regardless, he obeyed her", which seemed the most rational person in the room, because he certainly was getting distracted by Morgana's presence.

He glanced at Morgana – now disguised as himself – and he couldn't help but laugh at their situation. She mirrored his reaction and two Merlins stood with a goofy grin directed at one another.

Then Gwen interrupted them saying: "The path is clear. Go, Morgana, go!"

She promptly left the room and mere moments after Gaius was there to examine Arthur.

The prince finally regained his senses and his manservant explained the events for him.

"Morgana dreamed again and this time she saw that you couldn't do anything for fear that Arthur would find out about your magic, so he was struck by the beast's claws and was going to die. She told me everything and convinced me to help her. I sneaked into Gaius' chambers during the night, got your blood crystal, Morgana hit Arthur's head and was curiously very satisfied doing that –"

"Gweeeeeen!" Morgana squealed in protest and laughed, but her friend ignored her and continued her tale:

"We got his blood and used the crystal to disguise Morgana as him, then she put a sleeping spell on Arthur and took his place in the hunt. There, I think this summarize everything."

"Ehrm ... thank you, Gwen, for the short version." Merlin replied and added:

"I just don't understand how Morgana convinced you so easily. I thought that you had agreed with me that it was too dangerous to let her actively help."

"I thought that at first, Merlin. I really did. But then she told me the other part of her dream and she demonstrated the spell she'd be using as well as explained that she already knew exactly what the beast would do. She had seen the future, I couldn't argue against that." The maid pointed out and Merlin nodded, convinced that both women were right in the matter.

"Ok, but from now on you tell us everything, Morgana, not missing a single detail or thought!" He said with a serious face.

"Fine, Merlin. We won't have secrets between ourselves from now on as long as you don't try to forbid me of helping."

"Alright, love."

Merlin and Morgana gazed at each other's eyes as a couple utterly in love. Maybe it was making them overlook some details – meaning the risk of being caught either together or practicing magic – thankfully they had Guinevere to watch over them and keep them out of harm's range. Gwen smiled at her two friends and internally vowed to protect their love and help them whenever danger appears to threaten Camelot. If they work together as a team, them things would probably work out, she hoped.

Things were going back to normality in the kingdom – Uther ranting about sorcery, Arthur taking the glory for saving Camelot when he didn't move a single finger to help, Merlin and Morgana were improving their stealth and magic, Gaius being worryingly close of having a heart attack because of his ward's behavior, and Gwen was doing her best to support her friends' relationship (and keep it a secret). Only a day had passed since Camelot's troops brought the good news and the citadel was still celebrating it.

When night came, Merlin was at Morgana's chambers, with her head resting on his naked chest as they both fell asleep.

Suddenly a hollowing wind opened the window and a figure shrouded by the shadows of the moonless night entered the room and said:

"Hello, Emrys."