Author's Note: Here we begin the final stretch of story. I've finished writing it. I'm going to post three chapters a day until it's finished. I will post the first chapter of the sequel the day I post the last chapter. The sequel will be much shorter, but this story very much continues into it. It will have a totally different feel to it as it takes place in the 21st century. Thank you so much for reading my story. This has been a three year project that I sometimes thought I would never finish. Now that I have finished writing it, it's like letting out a deep breath. Phew! I actually finished. It's longer than I ever expected it to be (830 pages in my Word document!) For all my readers who have gotten this far - you are amazing. Thank you so much for sticking with me. If any of you have been reading since I first started posting then wow! You are patient. It's been fun, and I'm really excited to start the sequel. Nothing from this point onward is anything like the show. I changed everything. I hope you like it. :)

-104-

"Have you ever thought of asking Ryll to marry you?" Arthur asked Merlin one morning as he dished out the king's breakfast.

Merlin lost hold of the bowl of porridge he was about to place on the table, and it somehow ended up in the king's lap. Arthur stared down at the bowl before picking it up and throwing it at Merlin's chest. Porridge splattered the front of Merlin's shirt.

"What?" Merlin asked as if the porridge incident hadn't just happened.

"I asked if you ever thought about asking Ryll to marry you?" the king repeated, standing and wiping porridge off his pants. "I also wonder if you like doing laundry because that is what you'll be doing for the next few hours." He disappeared behind his changing curtain to get a clean pair of pants. "Well?" he called out from behind the curtain.

"I haven't exactly got anything to offer her," Merlin said.

"Your love isn't enough?"

"Well, I suppose, it's just…" he stuttered, trying to come up with the right response. "I guess I've always been afraid to ask because she's so…brilliant. She's graceful and poised and a knight and I'm…"

"Clumsy, foolish, a dollop-head…" Arthur listed off suggestions.

"Exactly."

"If Ryll cared about any of that she would have been done with you ages ago. You've been together longer than Gweneviere and me." He reappeared in a clean pair of pants and gave Merlin a serious look. "I would be more than happy to arrange a house. You will always have your job so you'll won't want for anything."

"That's very generous. I guess everything is fine the way it is. She's got the life she always wanted. Why change that?"

"And are you happy with the way things are?" Arthur prompted him. "Or do you want more?"

"I'm happy," Merlin said. As happy as he could be with the constant nightmares Ryll had these days. In the three months since Morgana had escaped, Ryll had changed. There were long periods of time where she kept to herself and others where she didn't want to be alone. He was always worried about her, and he wished he knew what to do to help her. Arthur looked skeptical. "Really, I am. Besides, Ryll's never brought up marriage before."

"Maybe that's because she's waiting for you to ask her."

Merlin contemplated this. Was Ryll interested in marrying? He'd never really thought about it before. They'd always been happy as friends and though they spent as much time together as they could, Ryll was busy with her duties as a knight, and Merlin was busy looking after Arthur.

"I think I'll skip breakfast," Arthur said after a long moment.

"I can go get some more porridge. It will only take a moment," Merlin said, making for the doors.

"No I think I've had my fill of porridge for one morning, thank you," Arthur said.

"Of course. I'll just get on that laundry," Merlin said, gathering Arthur's porridge covered pants.

Merlin spent the next few hours completely distracted. He jumped violently when Ryll snuck up behind him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek. "You're jumpy," she commented with a laugh. Merlin turned to look at her. Bright eyes and flushed cheeks meant she hadn't had a nightmare the night before. He was glad for that. He pushed aside is laundry, drying off his hands before pulling Ryll into a deep kiss.

"What was that for?" she asked when they broke apart.

"I just hadn't told you how much I loved you recently," he said. Ryll's eyes glowed.

"You told me yesterday, but I don't ever tire of hearing it," she said.

"Are you…happy? With the way things are, I mean?" Merlin asked in a rush. Ryll gave him a curious look.

"As happy as I can be with these nightmares," she said. "But when I don't have them, yes, I'm happy. What more could I want?"

"Nothing, I guess."

Ryll studied him for a moment. "Something's on your mind. I know that look. Out with it."

"It's nothing – really. I was just thinking."

"Be careful, that's a dangerous activity," Ryll said with a sly grin before leaning forward and kissing him again. "I've got to get to the training field to break in the new recruits, but I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Merlin nodded. "Go easy on them," he called after her.

Ryll grinned over her shoulder. "Not a chance." He went back to his laundry distractedly.

…

"You're rather quiet tonight," Gaius commented to Merlin that night at dinner. Merlin had spent most of the day in a haze, Arthur's words tumbling around in his mind.

"Huh?" He looked up at Gaius not having heard a word he'd said.

"Is something on your mind?" Gaius asked.

"Do you think Ryll would want to get married?" Merlin blurted out, flushing slightly.

Gaius looked surprised. "Well, has she ever said anything about it?" he asked.

"Not really. No, not at all actually. Arthur brought it up this morning. I'd never really thought about it before. We've always just been as we are, and it's worked. She's busy with being a knight, and I'm busy taking care of Arthur and making sure no one murders him."

"You both have your own lives, but I know she'd always want you to be a part of hers. Just remember that love doesn't always have to end in marriage. If you both like things the way they are, there's nothing wrong with that."

"I don't know what I want," Merlin admitted. "Our lives have always been so hectic. I can't even picture a time when everything would settle down enough or us to be happy."

"Sometimes instead of waiting for the danger to pass, you have to seize the happiness in between."

Merlin contemplated the physician's words. "You're right," he said. He imagined what it might be like being married to Ryll. Nerves made his stomach twist, and he wasn't sure he would have the courage to actually ask. "I'm not even sure how I would ask her if I did," he said. "It's a terrifying thought. I hardly feel ready to take such a step even though we've been in love for ages now."

"Love can be both terrifying and wonderful, but I know if you take the leap you won't regret it. Ryll is one of a kind. You'll never find another like her, and she adores you. She could have the pick of any nobleman in the kingdom, and yet she doesn't even look their way."

"Sometimes I think I'm too lucky. I've seen the way they look at her, but she pretends they don't even exist."

"That's because you're much more extraordinary than them and she knows it. Even without your magic, you would be to her. I still remember the clumsy boy who came wandering in so many years ago. I'm proud of the man you've become. You haven't let hardship turn you bitter. You are generous and kind and loyal. I will be proud of you no matter what you decide."

"Wow, thank you Gaius." It was a rare occurrence to get such praise from Gaius, but the old man waved his hand the next moment.

"Mind you're still as clumsy as the day you arrived here, and you still haven't learned the more than the basics when it comes to being a physician." A smile twitched on his lips and grew as Merlin grinned.

"Well I can't be perfect," he said. "Then Arthur would get bored."

…

Ryll sat in her window after training, a book grasped in her hand. She wasn't reading though. Her eyes had skimmed over the words like rocks skipping over water, and she hadn't taken in a word. She'd felt so happy earlier, felt the rush that came with having a good night's sleep without the twisted and tormenting dreams that usually invaded her mind. She was thinking about Morgana again. Arthur had been planning out tactics for if she ever returned to try to take the throne again. Usually Ryll was more than happy to give her advice but whenever Morgana came up she kept silent. How could she plot against the girl she'd once called sister? She was tired of everyone insisting that Morgana was her enemy. Morgana had said it herself, but somehow Ryll couldn't bring herself to believe it. Morgana had been frightened that night. She'd said what she had to in order to keep Ryll at bay. Ryll had thought that night over a million times, but she never found herself regretting saving Morgana and the dragon.

What she hadn't told Merlin or Arthur or Byron was that she'd had another nightmare the night before they'd left Camelot to go after Morgana. In her nightmare they had brought Morgana before Arthur, and he had sentenced her to death. Ryll had pushed it aside as a nightmare, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd heard Arthur's words the day the druids came to sign the peace treaty. Magic still wasn't allowed in the kingdom. Had they really moved forward? She wanted to believe so with all her heart, but something kept nagging at her, telling her she was being naïve. Peace was not the same as freedom. She had realized something over the last three months as the knights and Arthur spoke of stopping Morgana: this was going to end in either Morgana or Arthur's death. There was no other possible result when both saw the other as the enemy. Morgana had turned her hatred of Uther to Arthur as if they were one and the same. Arthur couldn't look past Morgana's crimes and actions to see the scared girl who was still under all that hatred. If one killed the other, then who won? Did Camelot win if Morgana died? Would they celebrate and call whoever killed her a hero? Would Ryll be expected to join them?

It made her sick to think of celebrating Morgana's death. She was still a person, and she was the same person as she was before. She had changed into someone Ryll hardly recognized, but she was still the same Morgana who had saved her life in the woods so many years before. She'd been fighting against Morgana for awhile now, but Ryll realized she hadn't faced the reality of it yet. She hadn't faced the thought of Morgana's death.

She knew Arthur didn't want to kill his sister, but she also knew he saw it as necessary. He needed to protect his kingdom and his throne. Some days Ryll wished they could come to an agreement. They were brother and sister by blood after all. Didn't family count for something? Everyone kept saying it was too late for Morgana, but Ryll hadn't given up on her yet. She'd tried. She'd told herself she had. But she hadn't. She hadn't given up hope because she fought for her friends. Everyone else might have stopped fighting for Morgana, but she didn't want to.

Determination rose, and Ryll shut her book. Who said it had to end the way her dreams had shown? She'd seen Arthur die over and over, and all she'd been focused on was Morgana. She'd been so focused on trying to stop her that she hadn't considered trying to keep helping her instead. Killing Morgana wasn't the only solution. It wasn't a solution at all just a way to get rid of the problem. The problem didn't start with Morgana though. The problem was that she and Arthur were fighting for the same thing in different ways, pitting themselves against each other when there were other ways to get what they wanted. She needed help, but this time she knew she could not look for it inside Camelot's walls.

…

The ground pounded beneath Owl's hooves as Ryll drove the horse further into the woods. The night air bit at her skin, but she hardly felt it. She felt an urgency rushing through her veins as if the world were about to crumble if she wasn't there in time to hold it up. She leapt off of Owl before the horse had come to a full stop. Byron was at the entrance to the druid camp, eyes filled with worry.

"Ryll, what is it?" he asked.

"I need to speak to you," she said. "But not here."

"Let me grab a horse."

They left the camp together, galloping through the woods until they reached a small clearing on the edge of a pond. Ryll dismounted and paced before the water while Byron stood waiting.

"Every time I see the future Arthur dies. I've seen Morgana die too," she told him. "I see the same thing over and over and I can't help but think I'm seeing it for a reason. At first I thought it was just to torment me, but why would I see these things if I can't change them?"

"You've said it yourself, changing the things you see doesn't necessarily mean you can change the future. Maybe Arthur and Morgana's deaths are inevitable. They're both determined to see this end and in their eyes it can only end with one or the other's death."

"But I don't think that's true," Ryll told him, her voice cracking. "I don't want either of them to die. What does that solve? How is that fixing what's wrong?"

Byron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know Ryll. I can't change their minds."

"Someone has to."

"Do you still see your own death?" Byron asked her softly.

"Sometimes." Ryll stared down at the pond, standing still though her veins were pumping and she felt like leaping out of her own skin. "Nothing is ever clear enough for me to understand what's happening."

"It's not set, not everything, but have you ever seen Arthur live?" he asked gently.

"No."

"Then you might have your answer."

"And what was my question?" The pool was suddenly blurry, and Ryll wiped away the tears that had collected along the edge of her eyelid.

"Whether or not you can save Arthur."

"That's not the question anymore," Ryll told him, turning around. "My question is, what can I do to save both of them?"

Byron gave her a long look. "Do you know what Arthur will do if he catches Morgana? There will be no peace. He must do as his own laws bid him to do."

"And how will killing Morgana solve anything? There will always be someone Camelot deigns evil and there will always be someone who thinks the world would be better without Arthur. That's not the point though is it?"

"Then what is?" Byron was humoring her. There was patience in his stare, but she could hear the weariness in his voice.

"The point is that some people are worth saving, worth fighting for. I believe Morgana is one of those people and I believe Arthur thinks that too somewhere deep inside. Not King Arthur, but Arthur who once looked to Morgana as a friend and sister. This is the same Arthur who forgives Merlin his clumsiness and mistakes and calls him a friend, the same Arthur who married the blacksmith's daughter and knighted a woman. That Arthur is willing to push limitations and break down rules."

"But he's still king at the end of the day. He still has to make those tough decisions."

"He's not the only one who has to live with them."

"Don't expect the world to change overnight. I know things look brighter since the peace he made with the druids, but don't be blinded to the fact that magic is still forbidden in Camelot. I admire Arthur, I really do. He isn't ruthless like his father. He's learned to judge people by their character and not for the way they were born – magic or not. But the time for being swayed by his father is over. Uther is dead, and it's time for Arthur to decide what he wants for his kingdom. If he wants peace with those with magic, then he can't continue to ban it from his city. Do you see how hypocritical it is?" Ryll knew he was just being honest, but his words still stung. "I know he's your friend," Byron added. "I'm not saying he's a bad person. Arthur has a big heart. But he still bans what is natural to people like you and me. Has he really accepted who you are? Just as long as you don't use magic?"

"He was raised to hate and fear magic – to think it evil above all else. I know Morgana has done nothing to allay that hatred, but I know I can show him that it's nothing to fear, that it's a person's actions not their abilities that make them good or bad. That sometimes people are both good and bad. We're human. Even people like Morgana feel pain and fear and desperation."

"Morgana and Arthur are sworn enemies. They're never going to see eye-to-eye," Byron told her. "Even if he does accept magic."

"They're sworn enemies because they think they have to be, but they don't," Ryll insisted. "This might have been something to blame on Uther before. I do blame him for a lot of things. But then I realize that Morgana never gave him the chance to judge her for who she really was. She only showed him cruelty with her magic, and so of course he believed magic evil. But we don't know and we don't have any right to judge him when he was not given the chance to accept Morgana for who she really was. And now Uther is dead, and I think we all keep blaming him for what's happened. This might have started with his reign, but it can end with Arthur's. Right now it's about the decisions being made by the people still alive. That's on us. If we make the wrong choice, we can't blame it on our pasts anymore nor those who wronged us. I can't even remember when this all started. I can't remember a reason why Morgana started calling Arthur her enemy."

"Have you ever considered that you're taking on too much?" Byron asked her. His green eyes were vivid with worry. She was familiar with that look; Merlin looked at her like that most days lately. "That one person can't change the course of the future no matter how hard they try? I don't want to see you get hurt because you cared too much about two people who will never get along."

"And have you considered that giving up is exactly what will ensure both their deaths?" Ryll asked, voice rising. Byron's eyes hardened, but he reached out a moment later, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. Aren't you forgetting that it's my destiny to die?" she added with a sad smile.

"You choose your own destiny, Ryll. No one can tell you that you have to die for someone. I don't care what that Sidhe said. He doesn't control your future."

"Let's not talk about that right now. I know I ask for too much sometimes. I try to change the world when I'm just one person, but do you ever get the feeling that you were meant for something? I feel like I was meant to make this right. I came all this way to this place in time when I never imagined even having a home. I was literally living on the streets as a child, a thief and an orphan. Now I'm a knight of Camelot. I've come so far and it can't be just so I can watch my friends die. Have you ever considered that I'm the only one who can make this right?"

"How do you mean?" Byron frowned. He'd released her shoulders, but he stayed close.

"I'm the only one Morgana still has a connection to. I know she said we're enemies, but she didn't mean it. Her eyes weren't reflecting what her mouth was saying. I know there is a part of her that still trusts me. And Arthur trusts me too. I think I'm the one chance at bringing them to some sort of peace. I have to believe that. Everyone else just thinks the world would be better without Morgana in it. I have to make them see that's not true. Morgana stands for the world we're trying to leave behind – the misunderstood, the shunned, the unloved. She's simply fighting for a place in this world, and Arthur has not given her one. She thinks killing him and taking the throne is her only chance."

"She'll never find acceptance if she does. She's tried it before. Twice."

"She thinks she'll lose if she accepts anything less. She loses either way though. She has already lost the things that really matter – acceptance, friends, family – those are all gone. She's seen to that whether she meant to or not. But it isn't final. Forgiveness can be given."

"You really think Arthur would forgive her for all she's done? She murdered their father."

"Do you know what Morgana told me when I was under her enchantment?" Ryll asked. "She told me that she cried. She felt Uther's death and she cried. Monsters don't cry like that. Monsters don't feel regret."

Byron was quiet for a moment, then, "Are you ready to forgive her?" he asked.

Ryll looked away. "There was a time not too long ago when I said I'd never forgive her. A time when I thought I'd given up. But then I couldn't kill her even after all she'd done to my friends and to my kingdom and to me. I realized in that moment that she wasn't my enemy and that I didn't want to see her die."

"You wouldn't have gone all that way to rescue her if you didn't still care," Byron agreed.

"You and Merlin came and yet I know Merlin thinks Morgana his sworn enemy – perhaps even more than she is to Arthur. Why?"

"Because we care about you. Merlin won't do anything that will endanger you and that includes helping Morgana, I think."

Ryll had been afraid of this and the sinking feeling in her gut collapsed at the confirmation. "Morgana told me that Emrys was both her destiny and her doom when I was under her control. The only part of that both she and I heard was 'doom' but 'destiny' is there too."

"You think there are two sides?"

"I think it depends on the choice Merlin makes. I can't make it for him though."

"He trusts and loves you. He'll listen no matter what Morgana has done to him," Byron told her.

"I'm afraid of asking too much of him," Ryll confessed. "He already holds a great destiny on his shoulders. I want him to know he's not alone."

"You still haven't told him about your own destiny?" Byron asked. Ryll could see the disapproval in his eyes.

"I thought you said we make our own destinies?" Ryll said with a half smile.

"Just make sure you carve a space for yourself into this utopia you're envisioning," Byron warned her. "You deserve to be happy too."

"I'm not sure happiness has anything to do with this. I'll be happy when the people I love are safe."

"Don't set your dreams too high, Ryll," Byron told her, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I don't want to see you die anymore than you want to see Arthur or Morgana die."