This is the longest chapter I've ever written for this fic, but should clear up most things, especially Morgana and Morgause's ooc behaviour that someone pointed out a few chapters ago! I'll warn you now that the ending of this chapter went a little weird, I ran out of good things to write!
Btw, I don't know what to call this chapter, if anyone has any suggestions, please tell me!
I don't own Merlin, although I do own all the box-sets!
Merlin put his arms out in front of Arthur and Morgana, stopping them from going anywhere near Nimueh.
"Who are you?" Morgana called, before Merlin or Nimueh had spoken.
"I am Nimueh, like you, Morgana; I am a high priestess of the old religion. We are the same." Morgana shook her head.
"I no longer invade places, innocent places. Why don't you leave Nemeth, what have their people ever done to you?" Nimueh laughed a cold laugh.
"Oh Morgana, surely you should understand my need for this power, the more kingdoms I have under my control, the easier it will be to take down Camelot." Arthur slowly put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and was getting ready to draw it, but Merlin shook his head. Nimueh noticed the interaction.
"Oh Arthur, I am high priestess, your little sword cannot kill me." Merlin smirked, knowing it was not a good idea to tell Nimueh that the sword could kill her. Nimueh rose from the throne and took a step towards the trio.
"Beclýsan hyrd" Nimueh said, raising her hand. The doors behind them shut and locked.
"How come you're alive?" Merlin asked, remembering the day he had killed her. Nimueh smiled.
"Oh come, Merlin, surely if Arthur can come back, I can, I was the one who brought him back. Before you murdered me, I had been working on a poultice which I carried around with me. When I was killed, the poultice reacted and has slowly been giving me life. It has taken many years, but now my strength is back. I only meant to bring Arthur, Uther and Morgana back, it seems like I made a mistake."
"Why would you want to bring Uther back? You hated him!" Merlin told her.
"Think Uther would know the true suffering that I went through when I kill his two children. He was broken after Morgana's betrayal, although you seem to have changed sides." Nimueh was now glaring at Morgana and Merlin suddenly had a thought. Morgana had said last night that it felt as though she had been cleansed from a dark enchantment after her return. What if…? No, Nimueh wouldn't have been strong enough then.
"Were you the one who enchanted Morgana?" Merlin asked, slightly angry. Both Morgana and Arthur looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
"What are you talking about?" Morgana asked, but stopped when she noticed Nimueh's scowl.
"I wasn't, the person responsible for that was Morgause." Merlin had a feeling that this was only half the story.
"Morgause was taken to the High Priestesses when she was a child. Did you do something to her to?" Nimueh smiled.
"Very good, Merlin. Although the enchantment placed on your sister, Morgana, was not as strong as the one placed on you. After your return, I knew I had lost Morgause, you however; your enchantment wasn't fully broken until your marriage. Speaking of which, how is your son?" One of Morgana's hands clenched into a fist.
"Not here, nowhere where you can harm him." Nimueh nodded.
"Of course, although, once both his parents have been killed though, who will he have to protect him?"
"Morgause will protect him; she is my sister. He'll have Merlin's parents too."
"Ah yes, Balinor. A dragonlord, if I'm not mistaken?"
"How do you know all of this?" Arthur spat, still with his hand near his sword.
"I have some allies within Camelot." She turned to Morgana, "Sometimes it is someone you would least expect it to be."
"Why are you looking at me?" Morgana demanded.
"Let's just say you're close to them. It did make me laugh how easily you accepted them." Merlin silently cursed, he had an idea of who Nimueh was talking about.
"Mordred." He asked. Surprisingly, Nimueh laughed.
"If only. He didn't want to betray Morgana, no matter what I did. I'm talking about his little girlfriend, Kara. Mordred doesn't know that she's working with me. It is handy though." Merlin knew Mordred and Kara were here somewhere, but fighting on different sides. If Kara was exposed, what would Mordred do?
Merlin had been consumed in his thoughts and hadn't noticed Nimueh raise her hand and speak until it was too late.
"Hleap on bæc!" The three of them slammed into the oak door and groaned. Merlin knew he should have seen that one coming.
"Ástríce!" Morgana cried, sending Nimueh back. Merlin grinned at her, and then pulled himself up. Nimueh arose and glared at them. Merlin recognised this look; Morgause had pulled one extremely similar when Gaius had thrown her back with magic.
"Ic, séo héahsácerd, þe ácwele-" Before Nimueh could finish her sentence, Merlin had an idea. He glanced at Excalibur, which Arthur had now unsheathed, and said:
"Þurhdrif hie ecg!" The sword quickly flew out of Arthur's hand and pierced Nimueh in the stomach. Nimueh collapsed in pain and gasped, before going still.
"Is she dead?" Arthur asked. Merlin shrugged and went over to where Nimueh was. He could see she wasn't breathing, but decided to double check. He placed his hand over her body and checked for any life signs. There were none. Nimueh was finally dead.
"She's dead." Merlin confirmed. Morgana came over and hugged Merlin. Arthur coughed and they both turned.
"We should tell everyone that she's dead. Maybe the other side will be defeated easier."
"Good point, brother." Morgana said. Arthur chuckled then became serious.
"What should we do about Kara?" Morgana bit her lip, whilst Merlin pondered. There could be a small chance that Nimueh had made it up, but how else would she have known about Mordred and Kara?
"If Nimueh was telling the truth, we need to show Mordred we're there for him. I can't have him go down the wrong path." Morgana said strongly. Arthur smiled, knowing how Mordred was like a surrogate son to his sister. Before, Mordred had had to choose between Arthur and Morgana, almost as if they were his split parents, but if he now had everyone in Camelot there for him, perhaps he would stay on their side.
"I'll let you do the honour speech, Arthur." Morgana said, giggling. Arthur pulled a face, before looking around the room.
"What are you looking for Arthur?" Morgana asked.
"A place where I'll be able to talk to the majority of people fighting." Merlin smiled, knowing there wasn't one. Instead, he decided to humour Arthur.
"Go out of the door, and turn … right. Then go out of the door." Arthur nodded and walked out of the door. Morgana looked at Merlin and rose an eyebrow.
"Where's he going to end up, Nemeth doesn't have a balcony or anything of those sorts." Merlin smiled and tapped his nose.
"We should follow him, really." Morgana said decisively. Merlin nodded and then they went in the same direction as Arthur. Morgana saw her brother stood on a platform.
"I wonder where that came from." She asked, looking at Merlin, who shrugged.
"I have no idea." He lied. Morgana laughed, able to easily read him.
"People who have taken Nemeth, your leader Nimueh has fallen. Now would be a good time to accept defeat. Queen Mithian and I have been talking and have decided people with magic will be allowed to stay in Nemeth, without fear of persecution. Stop this fighting and you shall no longer have to live in fear; ignore my words, and you shall face the consequences." Arthur finished his speech and watched as many people placed their weapons down. Some people still carried on resisting, but were outnumbered. Arthur turned to Merlin and Morgana.
"Nice speech." Merlin said, making Arthur smile.
"Thank you. If they know that no one will persecute them, people might stop all of these wars." Morgana smiled and was about to say something when she looked down at the crowd. Morgana noticed one girl with a bow, and was pointing it towards Arthur's back. Morgana quickly pulled Arthur towards her and Merlin, but that didn't stop the arrow from coming straight in their direction. Morgana bit her tongue to stop herself from crying as the arrow pierced her on the right side of her chest. Neither Merlin nor Arthur seemed to have noticed.
"Morgana, are you okay?" Arthur asked, noticing Morgana's unusual quietness. It was then that Arthur noticed the arrow in her side, having gone through the gap in her armour. Arthur picked her up and carried her into the throne room, Merlin at her side.
"Wel cene hole." Merlin mumbled placing his hand over Morgana's wound. Slowly, it started to heal and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Silently, he thanked Taliesin, who had used the exact same spell on Arthur once. Morgana opened her eyes and winced.
"I know Arthur's your brother, but next time let him take the arrow." Morgana nodded and smiled.
"I'm glad you can do healing magic now. Merlin, the arrow, it came from Kara. I saw just before it hit me."
"Kara." Merlin repeated. He looked at Arthur, who had been listening. He nodded and headed out of the door. Merlin kissed her lightly then grinned.
"How does it feel to know that those years you were being controlled by, well by Nimueh?" Morgana breathed in, unsure of what to say.
"I don't know. It's good to know that none of Morgause and I's reactions were our own, but how could one person ruin two people's lives like that?" Merlin shrugged.
"She wanted revenge on Uther, that's why. But we needn't worry about her now, she's dead, she won't harm you, or Ywain, I'll make sure of it." Morgana lent up and kissed him.
###
"…weren't for my sister, I could be dead." Arthur finished. He was stood in the court room in Nemeth, which Mithian had told him to use instead of waiting to get back to Camelot. Arthur was walking back and forth, whilst Kara was being held down by Leon and Percival. Morgana was stood to the side, glaring at Kara. Mordred had chosen not to be present.
"Tell me why I should spare your life?" Arthur asked, coldly. Kara shrugged, knowing that silence was the thing that angered Arthur the most.
"Reviewing the facts, the appropriate thing for me to do is sentence you to death, is there anything else you wish to say?" Kara shook her head and Percival took her from the room.
"You did what you had to do, Arthur." Morgana said, patting his arm. Arthur nodded, he hated sentencing people to death, it made him feel like Uther, but if he didn't do it Kara might start some sort of group. He'd had enough of that with Morgana's past.
"What do we do now?" Leon asked. Arthur studied his longest serving knight.
"Let's go back to Camelot, I'm sure Morgause is missing you too!" Leon blushed slightly, making Morgana smirk. As soon as Leon was out of the room, Morgana turned to Arthur.
"You're cruel, Arthur!" Arthur laughed.
"Well, I just need to talk to Queen Mithian, and then we'll be on our way." Morgana smiled. Mithian had been crowned the previous day, and Morgana got the impression Nemeth would flourish under her reign. Although Mithian had offered them a stay here, all the people of Camelot wanted to get home. They had been gone for three and half weeks, and all Morgana wanted to do was see Ywain. Also, she needed to relieve him from Gwen and Morgause's care. Gwen might be Ywain's godmother, but looking after Ywain and Amhar and being heavily pregnant was not a good combination. Though Morgana had promised that if it was ever needed, she would do the exact same.
As Arthur said, that was you did when you loved someone.
Nearing the end of story (sad times), two updates in one day, surely that deserves a review? :-)