Chapter 48 A/N I don't own Merlin or Harry Potter. SPOILERS for Llys Dôn, though they may be a bit subtle ;) Or not. I might not post next week, big test coming up…

"Dinner was delicious, Merlin. And your house is quite spectacular." Claude said once everyone had finished their food and they'd adjourned to the back gardens.

"Yes, Crissy and Lindy certainly exceeded themselves." Merlin agreed, taking a sip of the hot chocolate Cassie had begged for.

"Apolline mentioned the treasure you have in your vaults, it's a shame I wasn't here to see it."

"Merlin'll open it again." Cassie said, confident.

"You haven't asked me, Cass."

"I think that was her way of asking." Arthur told him, leaning over to the side.

"Yeah fine, I'll open it again. Still not letting you look, though, Cassie."

"I'll get it out of you eventually." Cassie said, hiding her smile behind the mug of chocolate and shivering slightly.

"You really should wear something warmer, it's the tenth time you've shivered since we came here." Apolline said disapprovingly.

"I forgot to bring it, it's in my garment bag." Cassie explained sheepishly while Merlin fanned the fire pit to make the flames bigger. "Thanks."

"No worries. Why don't you just floo over and grab it?" he asked her.

"Which version?" Cassie offered.

"You're lazy?" Arthur supplied.

"Yup, got it in one." Cassie said, popping the 'p' loudly.

"I can just get you one of the old coats. It's no problem." Merlin said, leaning back in the chair.

"Do it." Arthur told him, not letting Cassie answer.

"I can speak for myself, Arthur." Cassie said when Merin had disappeared through the door into the manor.

"You would've said no, and your nose is really red." Arthur replied, rolling his eyes as she touched her nose with a slender finger.

"I have half a mind to ask your headmaster if this is how you take care of yourself over there." Claude added, agreeing with Arthur.

"I take care of myself just fine!" Cassie cried affronted.

"No she doesn't." Merlin said when he reappeared. "She took on too many classes, barely sleeps so she can study for them all, and when she does sleep, the nightmares and sleepwalking stop her from getting a good rest."

"The nightmares are hardly my fault!" Cassie said defensively.

"Yeah, but the classes are your fault. Yours and Hermione's. You both need to drop a few classes, you can't continue on like this."

"Well, if Arthur had been a better help last year when we were supposed to pick them, I might not have taken so many."

"Hang on! Now it's my fault?!"

"Yes, yours and Morgana's, and Fleur's for keeping you occupied." Cassie said jokingly.

"Have you thought any more about what you want to do?" Claude asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well, I know I won't do ministry work. Staying inside and pushing papers is not my thing." Cassie said, quickly adding a 'no offense' when she remembered that's what he worked in.

"None taken." he said with an amused grin.

"I have considered something to do with potions, charms or transfigurations. I'm just not sure what." Cassie told them.

"She's really gifted at art." Merlin piped in. "You should have seen some of the things she made for our friends, really beautiful."

"He's exaggerating." Cassie said, her blush being overstated by the old olive colored coat.

"Am not, just wait until you see yours." he told them.

"Did you peek?!" Cassie asked him with a dangerous quirk of her eyebrow.

"Just a little. I didn't see mine though, couldn't figure out which one it was." Merlin admitted.

"Unbelievable!" Cassie said, throwing her hands up and muttering to Gabrielle and Fleur about 'stupid, immature boys.'

"It's getting late, we should head back, girls." Claude told them after over an hour of easy conversation.

"And boys." Apolline added, looking at Arthur who was sputtering indignantly.

"You could always stay the night. There's more than enough rooms for everyone." Merlin offered.

"Yes daddy, please can we?" Fleur and Gabrielle asked at the same time, giving him puppy dog eyes and pouting.

"You've made monsters, dear." he said jokingly to his wife, "I suppose you can. Lindy!"

"Yes, Master Claude?"

"Bring us all some clothes to spend the night and a change for tomorrow. Arthur's and Morgana's should still be packed, I assume." he told the house-elf.

"Yes, master." she said, bowing low and then popping back to their house to get the belongings.

"Let's show you the vault first, it'll make you not be annoyed at all." Cassie said, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the manor.

"You're going the wrong way!" Merlin called out amusedly.

"Oops." Cassie said simply, rolling her eyes and following after him. "I have trouble finding my way in manors and castles. That first month in Hogwarts was me following everybody because I could barely find my own way awake. Asleep, apparently, was another story."

"Don't joke about that." Arthur scolded. "It's not funny."

"Well, the vault is amazing! You really should see it. Merlin has an authentic da Vinci. It's beautiful, really." Cassie said, gushing about the notebook.

"Forget the drawing, he's got a crown!" Fleur said excitedly.

"Turn around please." Merlin said, eyeing Cassie carefully before he put in the combination.

"You're so paranoid, Merlin." Cassie said teasingly.

"Yeah, well, I've good reason to be, as you well know." Merlin told her. "The amount of times my home has been sacked throughout the years is astonishing. This vault was built in the fourteenth century, of course it was just a gate at that time, the keys are in the corner, very rusted." Merlin told them, walking over and picking them up.

"Yeah, okay." Cassie said, going right back to the da Vinci while everyone else looked around some more.

"You could stock two small museums with what you have in here." Claude said, looking around in wonder.

"He can't, something about the will and the dark objects locked away in some room not getting out." Arthur answered, walking up to his sister to try and see what was so special. "What do you like so much about this?"

"Are you joking?" Cassie asked, looking at him incredulously.

"No, I don't really see it."

"Philistine." Cassie muttered, "Go play with the swords, you brute." she said, trying to hide her smile.

"You're not that good at hiding your smile you know." he told her with a quick peck on her cheek, going off to 'play with the swords' as she so put it.

"Shut up, Arthur."

"Nope." he said, taking a mace and dropping it on his foot with a howl of pain.

"Don't play with those!" Merlin called out, walking forward exasperatedly as if chastising him.

"Sorry!"

"Isn't that funny." Morgana said, walking up to her and stifling her laughter.

"All it needed was for him to start hopping on one foot for me to double over." Cassie agreed, not bothering to hide the giggles overcoming her.

"I think that's enough playing, boys." Apolline said, shaking her head at them.

"She's right, come on, show us to our rooms. I assume Lindy's back with our clothes by now." Claude said, walking around the back of the vault once more to admire all the artifacts and weapons there were.

"Your ancestors liked their weapons." Fleur said, admiring a gilded dagger with inlays of opal.

"That particular dagger is very old, from the sixth century." Merlin told them, putting the mace back in its place gingerly.

"Dark Ages, cool." Gabirelle said.

"Beautiful, really." Apolline said, standing behind her daughters to admire it.

"The magic's kept the blade sharp, I would be careful picking it up, if I were you." he told them, making sure Arthur didn't take anything else stupidly.

"We can?" Fleur asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

"Go ahead. Just don't drop it like Arthur did the seventeenth century mace." Merlin said, shoving Arthur playfully.

"It's surprisingly light." Gabrielle said, holding it gingerly.

"Magic." Merlin replied, grinning cheekily at them.

"You are such a fool, Merlin." Cassie said giggling.

"But you love me for it." he replied jokingly.

"There are moments when I just want to throttle you, actually." Cassie replied, taking the dagger and throwing it at his feet.

"Perfectly balanced, inlaid with opal. Surely it belonged to a princess? Why would your family have it." Morgana asked.

"It belonged to a Queen, actually." Merlin said. "She was never crowned, but when a group led by Mistivoj murdered the people of her city when she was but a girl, she ran. Gave the throne to someone who ruled justly, governed over the people as if they were his own."

"I think there's quite a story behind that. Tell us." Gabrielle said.

"Not tonight, Gab." Claude said. "I've heard his stories, I know they're long. Tomorrow."

"Okay, fine." she said, sighing wistfully and looking at him with big eyes.

"Let's show you to your rooms then." Merlin said, thankful he didn't have to tell the story.

"Merlin?"

"Yes, Arthur?"

"How did your ancestors come across so many of these artefacts?" he said, reaching out for a sword, but thinking twice about it as he remembered the mace.

"Traveling, making contacts. They were close friends with the Hapsburgs, Tudors and Plantagenets. Then they expanded and traveled through Denmark and France and got to Russia. Sometime in the seventeenth century they went to Japan and got these." Merlin said, holding out an ancient looking rifle. "They're called tanegashima."

"Do they work?"

"Not for about 300 years, no. The matchlock's missing." Merlin said, showing him the splintered firearm. "The tachi were also japanese."

"Well, we know who to go to in case of war." Claude quipped. "Although, I doubt this rusted sword will protect from the bombs muggles love." he said, running his finger over the blade and dropping it with a sharp hiss.

"I did say the blades were sharp, you know." Merlin pointed out, putting some cloth over the cut and pressing down to stop the bleeding.

"I'll show everyone up while you deal with that, then." Cassie said, hooking her arms in Gabrielle's and Fleur's and walking away.

"Oh no you won't! You're clumsier than I am. I will not have you walk into a suit of armor!" he said as he poured some dittany over the cut.

"One time, Merlin! And it wasn't even here!" Cassie said, sitting on the stairs and waiting impatiently while Fleur just giggled and moved away to look at a painting on the wall.

"All done. It won't scar." Merlin said, standing up and dragging Cassie to her feet. "You were going the wrong way, anyways. It's much quicker through here.

"Are there any secret passages like in Hogwarts?"

"A few, but they've caved in. Or have serious cobwebs. No reason to use them. I've actually forgotten where some of them are." Merlin said as they got to the corridor and he pointed out everyone's rooms. "That room is expressly forbidden! I'm talking to you two!"

"Hey!" Arthur and Cassie said indignantly at the same time.

"It's true, you are pretty reckless." Fleur pointed out.

"Am not!" they answered in unison once again.

"Are too." everyone said at once, rolling their eyes at the two as they went to their rooms.

"Our door will be open. No funny business." Claude said, looking at Arthur and Merlin in warning.

"We won't do anything!" They both cried, their faces red with embarrassment as his insinuation.

"You should hope not. Goodnight, darlings." Claude said, kissing his daughters and Cassie goodnight and shooting the boys one last warning look.

Goodnight, kids." Apolline said with a smile, kissing them all goodnight and retiring to their room.

"You heard him...no funny business." Gabrielle said with a smirk, looking more at Morgana and Merlin than anyone else. "Goodnight." she sang, followed by Cassie and Fleur to their respective rooms with a soft click of the frame.

"If you hurt my sister, then I will hurt you." Arthur said, glaring at Merlin and clapping him hard on the shoulder.

"Is there any ice cream left?" Morgana asked coquettishly, ignoring her brother's warning and smiling at the dark haired boy.

"Plenty, I always have Crissy stock up, come on." he said, smiling back at her and taking her hand while he led her to the kitchen. "What flavor do you want?" he asked as he opened the freezer.

"Surprise me. But no butter pecan or pistachio. Those are gross."

"I don't have those, hate them too."

"Guess we're more alike than we thought." Morgana said with a soft smile, leaning provocatively over the counter and batting her eyelashes at him.

"Did Cassie tell you I'm a legilimens, or is this what you usually think when no one's listening in?" Merlin asked with a smirk, placing two scoops from one tub of ice cream and two scoops of another ice cream into a bowl and taking two spoons for them.

"This is delicious, what is it?" Morgana said, ignoring his comment and having some ice cream.

"Chocolate rum and amaretto cherry." Merlin said, pointing to each with his spoon and smiling at her.

"Rum and amaretto? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk." Morgana quipped in a gentle voice, moving closer to him and smiling up at him.

"No, I think you know exactly what I'm trying to do." Merlin replied with a wink, leaning down and kissing her deeply. Morgana twisted around and wrapped her arms around his neck instinctively, the two fitting so perfectly into each other it only seemed natural. She moaned softly into his kiss, not caring that the ice cream was melting on the tabletop behind her. He slanted his mouth against hers, letting his tongue lightly outline her lips before plunging into her mouth, grazing her teeth, eliciting another moan that only worked to rile them up even more.

"Someone's coming!" Morgana whispered quickly, turning around and taking a big bite from the ice cream and wincing at how cold it was.

"Thought I said no funny business."

"No funny business here, Mr. Delacour. We're just having some ice cream." Morgana said with a sweet smile and innocent eyes.

"I just came down for some water, but now I want some ice cream as well." Claude said, eyeing the two suspiciously.

"Just in the freezer over there. There's plenty of flavors to choose from." Merlin said, pointing to said freezer with his spoon while his other hand snaked around Morgana's waist and teased circles down her flat stomach, low enough that only they knew what he was doing. "Spoons are in that drawer, right there. And the bowls are in the cupboard there." Merlin added, loud enough to mask the gasp that came from Morgana's lips as he brazenly let his hand slip under the waistband of her skirt and into her panties.

"I think I'll take some to Apolline. Goodnight. And remember, my door is open." he said, warning them one last time, trying to find a sign of mischief in their faces.

"Yes, Monsieur." they said in unison, Morgana holding her breath and trying hard to keep what Merlin was doing from her face.

It wasn't until they heard his steps ascending the stairs that Morgana let a loud moan out, pressing back against him and twisting her head up and back to kiss him deeply.

"I saw ice cream!" Cassie said as she neared the kitchens, making them jump apart and blush fiercely. "Don't mind me, continue what you were doing. AFTER I leave, please." Cassie said, smirking at their blushing faces and ruffled hair.

"Cassie!" they growled in warning, rolling their eyes.

"What, just calling them like I see 'em. And hear 'em, might want to consider being more quiet. Or going to the other side of the castle." Cassie said, laughing as they both glared daggers at her and she left quickly, her dressing gown trailing after her.

"She's right, you know. We might have been too loud." Merlin said, trailing kisses down her neck.

"She's also right that we could go to any other place in your castle."

"It's not a castle, it's a manor house."

"Seems more like a castle than a manor house to me." Morgana said, finishing the last of the ice cream between the two and leaving the plate there. "And there was a certain place in the castle that I particularly liked." she said, her eyes twinkling in mischief as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the back gardens.

"Where are you taking me?" Merlin asked, racking his brains and trying to figure out just what she was talking about.

"You really can't guess?" Morgana asked, pausing as she grabbed two cloaks and handed one to Merlin.

"Not a clue." Merlin said, reaching behind her and fastening her cloak.

"I might not do what I wanted to, now." Morgana said, biting her lip seductively and walking backwards towards the ivy-covered door. "Aliese." she said, raising her hand like Merlin had shown her and frowning when nothing happened.

"You have to concentrate." he said, his arms circling her waist and hugging her tightly, his lips descending on her neck and sucking gently.

"I can hardly do that when you're giving me a love-bite, now can I?" she asked with a slight moan when he moved to a more sensitive part near the base of her throat.

"Sure you can." he replied as he trailed kisses up to her jaw, challenging her to open the door.

"Aliese." she said again, and still nothing happened. "Merlin!" she whined, sounding almost petulant, "Please?"

"Okay, raise your hand." he said, his hands still around her waist as she did so. "Close your eyes and find your magic humming through your body. For some, it used to be so little that they called on the magic of the Earth to use their magic, but others…" Merlin said, trailing off at the end and changing courses. "You have strong magic in you, Morgana. You just need to practice recognising it easily and quickly. Once you find it, try directing it towards your outstretched hand like you did this afternoon." he said, kissing her neck gently as she breathed in deeply. "Now say the incantation."

"Aliese." Morgana said, gasping in excitement when she heard the click of the door and saw it open slightly. "This is exhilarating!"

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Merlin said, an idea popping into his head.

"What?" Morgana said, turning around to stop him, but doing so a little too slowly as Merlin had already disappeared through the darkness.

"I thought I said no funny business." Claude said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I promise you, all I'm doing is teaching her some more magic. At her request." Merlin answered calmly as he took a box of thin, tall candles and a bronze candelabra.

"Which is why you need the candles." Claude said sarcastically, his eyebrow quirked up in suspicion.

"All I'm going to do is teach her to light them. I thought it would be better to do so outside, closer to nature's magic. It's easier to learn that way." Merlin said, placing one on the table and lighting it silently to show him. "See, that's it. You're welcome to watch, Monsieur."

"Merlin, I don't mean to be rude, and this is your house, but that young girl is my responsibility. I trust that you won't do anything untoward, and I trust you won't betray any of our confidence. But the second I get word that you do…"

"I would never do anything untoward, sir. Especially when I have guests in my home. You can sleep soundly, I'm just showing her magic."

"Which is why you have a love-bite?" he asked amusedly. "If it goes past kissing, especially while my daughters are here, I won't let them come back."

"Yes, sir. You can trust me." Merlin said, and he meant those words.

"What took you so long? It's freezing." Morgana said, hugging her arms tightly to herself in the cold wind.

"Magic. I want to teach you some more. Cassie learned this a few days ago, can't have you falling back, now can we? Although, you did open the door before she could." Merlin said.

"And Arthur?"

"There'll be time for him. Besides, it would be awkward for me to teach him the way I teach you." he said with a silly grin. "I don't really think he wants me to give him a love-bite."

"And how do you teach Cassie?"

"Lectures. She seems to thrive on those." he said thoughtfully, pausing in his set-up and looking up at her, "Arthur would learn through fighting, I would think. Or some form of physical activity. There's swords here, I could try teaching him to sword fight." he said, a wide smile on his face as he thought of all the times Arthur had pounded on him under the pretext of teaching him to wield a sword.

"That's true, actually. Don't even think about lecturing me."

"Wouldn't dream of it, my Lady." Merlin said, his goofy grin still on his face as he sat down giddily, finally doing what he should have done all those centuries ago.

"So? What do I do?" Morgana asked, only slightly hurt that he would stop what they were doing before it even started.

"Here, sit across from me. Yeah, like that. Okay, close your eyes." he said, waiting for her to do just that. "Now, clear your mind of everything. And take deep, calming breaths. You know how you can feel the magic inside you, and how you feel the magic when you use your wand. Try and feel the magic thrumming from the earth. It's late and it's winter, so the magic isn't as obvious as it would be at midday in the spring, but it's still there. And it's still powerful." He said, reaching across and gently placing her hands on the ground on either side of her. "Can you feel the magic of the grass?"

"Not really," she said, opening her eyes and looking at him exasperatedly.

"Okay, lay back, looking up at the sky." he commanded.

"The ground's like ice, Merlin." she replied drily with a quirked eyebrow.

"Nothing will happen, I promise. Just trust me, lie back." he prodded gently, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Okay." she said, slowly lying back and shivering slightly at the cold seeping through her clothes.

"Close your eyes again. Try and feel the energy coming up from the ground."

"I do feel it, it's cold." Morgana said, sitting up quickly and drawing the cloak tighter over her.

"Maybe we should leave this for when it's less cold," Merlin said, standing up reluctantly.

"No! I-I can do it." Morgana said quickly, lying back down and closing her eyes, not seeing Merlin's amused smile as he towered over her.

"Now you're just pouring your magic into the earth, Morgana. Let me." he said, holding his hand out for her to take with searching eyes. "Okay, you feel my hand in yours, and you feel the warmth it's sending into yours, just as I feel the warmth your hand is giving to me. Now, it's not just the temperature difference of the friction that you feel, right?"

"I feel your pulse, and the way it's trembling slightly." she said, looking into his eyes.

"The earth has its own pulse, one that mingles with every living thing upon it. Listen to your heart, feel your blood rushing through you. That's life. The same life that flows through you is in the ground, in the ivy that's hiding the door, in the branches of the trees. It's in everything, even rocks and books and glasses." he said, his other hand going up to her face to gently ghost his thumb over her closed eyes. "Keep them closed and follow me."

"How do I follow you with closed eyes?" she asked with a light chuckle.

"Just trust your instincts. Feel the magic around you, everything feels different. This," he said, handing her the bronze candelabra, "doesn't feel like this." he said, placing the hand he held on the cold stone of the wall. "And this wall doesn't feel the same as this." he said, letting some of the ivy fall onto her exposed neck, eliciting a slight jump in surprise.

"You're right. The ivy is humming with life and the wall hums with something else." she said, her brow furrowing slightly as she felt along the wall. "It feels different here."

"That's where you used magic earlier to unlock the door."

"It's seeping into the stone. I think?"

"It is, but not in the way you're thinking of. It's becoming one with the stone, the energies-the magics are mingling, becoming one. Blóstmá." he whispered, letting small flowers pop up on the vine he was holding to her neck, smiling at the gasp of wonder that came from her lips. "You felt it, right? How the magic of the vine changed for a moment."

"Yeah, but it's- Merlin it feels like it's dancing, swirling with each other. Twisting and braiding until it's impossible to tell where one begins and the other ends."

"Exactly. I couldn't have explained it better myself. Magic craves magic. It's practically impossible for magic to be alone, and when it is, it grows dark, angry. It's capable of terrible destruction when it's alone. Not just physical destruction of extrinsic things. But of the person who wields it, too." he said, his voice catching as he remembered the moment he understood exactly what had happened to Morgana a few hundred years after her death. "But just as it's capable of absolute destruction, it's capable of creation, of life. Magic has as much feeling and emotions as you or I." he said, taking the candelabra from her and placing it on the floor, turning her face to his and caressing her cheek with his thumb, looking deep into her burning green eyes as she opened them. "It feels joy. And anger. And love, and sadness. And so many more things. For some people, for most people, our magic is tied to our emotions. It's why young children do accidental magic. They have little control over it and when they're extremely angry or scared or happy, their magic reacts in kind and shows itself. Old magic is slightly different, but it still reacts to our emotions."

"Is that how Cassie threw you against the wall wordlessly last December?"

"Yes, she was upset, and angry, and scared. And all that was confusing her magic, letting it build up until it exploded out of her when someone caught her attention. The others just thought she'd done wordless magic, but I saw her eyes glow gold for a second."

"But how do you control it?"

"That brings me to the candles right here." Merlin said, letting the vine fall against the wall and bending up to pick the candelabra up. "Come on, not a good idea to do this near the vines."

"Do what?" Morgana asked, following him with burning curiosity.

"Teach you to light the candle. Cassie almost burnt down the curtains when I tried to teach her. She got it in the end, but still…I don't really want to burn the ivy down."

"Oh, ye of little faith." Morgana said with a teasing smile.

"Come on,let me get some chairs and a table. We don't have to sit on the ground for this." he said, handing her the candelabra and leaving her standing in the middle of the field alone. "Okay," he said after three trips with chairs and a table. "Put it in the center of the table and sit across from me again. Focus on the candle, feel your magic and say forbearnan." Merlin said, lighting one candle with a glow of his eyes.

"Forbearnan." Morgana said softly, gasping slightly when the candles lit up at once and smiling widely as she ran around the table and threw her arms around Merlin's neck. "I did it! Can you believe that! And in one try!" she squealed happily.

"Now you have to do it again. Practice makes perfect, 'Gana." he said with a smile, watching as her excited eyes became serious and she lit the candles once again. And again, and again for another half hour. "I think I can teach you levitation now."

"Ooh! Yes! Definitely." Morgana said excitedly, blowing the candles out. Once more.

"This is a much longer incantation. But with time and practice you can do it wordlessly. Cassie, being the complete overachiever she is, managed to get it wordless in a week. It took me almost a month, but I didn't really do it too much. It wasn't very useful. Just a way to learn to control the magic and direct it."

"Doesn't matter, just show me!" she said excitedly, leaning forward.

"Hoppaþ nu swilce swá lieg fleogan." he said clearly, his eyes glowing as the flames of the candles lit up and floated in the air between them.

"Can you repeat the words?" Morgana asked, her eyes dancing in the candlelight.

"Yes, of course." he said, repeating the words and correcting her pronunciation when she parroted them. "Okay, try it now." he said, almost as excited as she was, looking at her expectantly.

"Hoppaþ nu swilce swá lieg fleogan." she said, her hand outstretched like Merlin had shown her with the door. When the flames floated up lazily she squealed in delight and smiled widely at him.

"Alright you two. It's late, get to bed." Claude said from the door, his arms crossed from the cold.

"Yes, monsieur." Morgana said happily, kissing Merlin quickly and walking away as he extinguished the flames with a glow of his eyes. And took the chairs back to the porch.

"Goodnight, Merlin." Claude said when they both got to the top of the stairs, watching him close his door after a quick goodnight.


"Ahhh!" Morgana screamed shrilly, bolting upright in bed and breathing hard, her dream playing through her mind as she looked down on Arthur lying on the floor, pale and dying and knelt down to him, saying something about wolves bathing in his blood before a voice made her turn around to see Merlin wielding a sword and strike her, falling onto Merlin's arms as he said his goodbye as she died.

"What's wrong? 'Gana? Are you okay?" Arthur asked, running into the room and turning on the lights, looking around for intruders after he had her shaking form in his arms as everyoneelse gathered at her door.

"N-no I just had a nightmare. I'm sorry if I woke you all." she said, refusing to look Arthur or Merlin in the eye.

"It's fine, are you sure you're okay?" Arthur asked again softly, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. You can go back to sleep, really." she said, leaning away from him and turning to them all. "I really am fine."

"Go on, Arthur. I'll stay with her." Cassie said, ushering them all out. "I know how terrible the nightmares can be."

"I'll bring a sleeping draught. If you need it." Merlin said quietly, going down to the kitchens and breathing deeply, fighting back the tears as all the guilt and anger he'd been harboring over the years came flooding back the moment he saw what the dream was about.

"Thanks." Morgana said, taking the vial and downing it, still refusing to look in his eye and falling asleep within seconds.

"Merlin?" Cassie called out quietly as he opened the door.

"Yeah?"

"What was the dream about?" she asked him, softly stroking her twin's hair.

"She remembered her death." Merlin replied mentally, closing the door softly and leaning against the frame for a second before going back to his room and putting up a silencing spell, letting his emotions take over and crying about what had happened in the forest for the first time in over four centuries.