Unforgiven

by ThereIsNoOtherWay

Morgana Pendragon is in Camelot to kill the king Arthur, but she's counting on Merlin to help her do it. She can only hope that he believes her story... Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the BBC and do not own any of the characters. My use of them is purely for entertainment under the fair use clause of copyright law, I do not receive any profit or material privilege from them.

6. Chapter 6

"Did Arthur read the letter?" Morgana asks, looking up sharply from Merlin's Magic book as he pushes open the door to his bedroom.

Merlin shakes his head, moving in urgent haste to the bed and grasping Morgana's wrists, pulling her so she stands up.

"Someone saw you," he says, "the guard at the gates thinks he saw you come in, he thinks you killed the night guard. Rubbish, but still, Arthur's put out a warning to the city." Merlin flings the book down, pushing it under the bed, and spins Morgana towards the doorway. "If you're found, you're to be killed on sight."

Morgana lifts a hand to her throat, then shakes her head. "Then why not give him the letter now? Explain that must be why I came to Camelot."

Merlin says, turning away from her to pull a coarse grey blanket from the bed, "He wouldn't listen to me. He's just said you're to be killed, he'll think I've fabricated it to protect you."

"Why would he think that? Merlin, of course he'll listen to you!"

"You don't understand. I've spent the last years trying to convince him that we need to find you. That we could save you." Merlin hadn't ever intended to tell her this, but there's no way around it now. "Morgana, I've become known as the hopeless idealist who still believes in you. We need to wait until the immediate danger is passes or he won't believe me."

Morgana is touched by Merlin's faith over the years, but the adrenaline and fear of being chased is making her too afraid to respond clearly. "So I'm to be the hunted evil again."

"No," Merlin grins at her, draping the woollen cloth over her head and pulling it forward so it hides her face. "You'll be my aged grandfather."

"This day just gets better and better."

"I know somewhere I can hide you, there's tunnels under the castle. But I need to get you there without anyone seeing you. You're already in men's clothes, with this over your face, as long as you walk very slowly and hold onto me, nobody will think I'm doing anything but safely escorting one of Camelot's elderly citizens home," Merlin explains.

He opens the door and takes her arm down the steps. "Whatever you do, Morgana," he warns her seriously, "Don't run."