"Give me the waters of Lethe that numb the heart, if they exist, I will still not have the power to forget you."

-Ovid

Morgana wished it had been a nightmare.

She awoke and the roof of Camelot's crypt trembled from left over quakes brought on by the army of the dead. A piercing pain erupted in the back of her head. Something like blood dripped down her neck. She groaned as she lifted her body yet grasped her sword tight. After all, Merlin should still be skulking around like the little rat he was. Unless the roof collapsed on him as well. She smirked despite the pain. A death that would have given her pleasure.

Unlike so many that were lost today.

It was unfortunate. The deaths. Merlin tried pinning this war onto her, yet the people of Camelot wouldn't have been dying if the tyrant King Uther Pendragon hadn't massacred so many innocents already.

Morgause had told her to stop these feelings of guilt and that any weakness within her was a taint that could lead to her death. As it led to so many others.

She saw it then, through the mist of rubble. A blinding light then a tumble of rods. Her eyesight still blurred, Morgana couldn't make out the figure that had cleaved through the staff. Tall and confident yet thin and weak. Angry, she allowed her emotions and her magic to consume her. It was the only way she could use this curse—no, gift—to destroy any that got in her way.

Yet the buzz of magic didn't leave her fingertips. It couldn't. The pain in her head distorted her concentration, so she was left vulnerable to the stranger that ruined everything.

Turns out he wasn't so much of a stranger.

Merlin turned and scanned the crypt as if looking for a threat. She pushed herself back into the shadows. Even though he didn't see her behind the stone coffin crouched, and she couldn't see him, she could still feel him. That burst of energy came from where he stood.

And it made no sense.

When Morgause gave her the staff within the forest, Morgana had asked if it was possible for anyone to remove the enchantment.

Her sister had laughed. "Perhaps. But no one in Camelot has the power. At least, not anymore."

"Not anymore?"

"Magic, dear sister. Only magic can remove the enchantment."

What fools they were. For there was one with such power. One that Morgause had strung up and left to die in the forest. One that should have perished days ago. One that now stood healthy and alive and here. One that had magic.

Merlin had magic.

She wanted to scream and curse Uther Pendragon. Yet she held her breathe as hurt began to spread within her chest. It was as if he had poisoned her again, only this time she didn't want to look into those false eyes. False eyes that pretended to care.

Why?

Why didn't he trust her?

Why did he fight against them when he was one of them?

She didn't have the chance to ask those questions. Merlin ran out of the crypt as soon as the dust settled.

Did she even want to know the answers?

The knights arrived ten minutes later. Or had it been an hour? Morgana couldn't register her surroundings as the pain in her head inflamed her skull. We need to get her to Gaius. Someone shouted this above her.

Gaius. He knew. He must have known who he was harboring. Oh, how he must have laughed at her as he gave her potion after damned potion. Trying so hard to drown out her own magic when he harbored magic under their noses.

More time must have passed for she was now laying on a cot facing shelves of herbs and potions. Poisons. She tried to sit up yet an old hand forced her back onto the cot.

"Rest, my Lady."

She recognized that voice. Gaius.

Someone gripped her left hand with callused fingers. She moved her head and found herself staring into the eyes of the Tyrant. A very sane Tyrant. Someone had either broken the mandrake's spell or had discovered the vessel. She didn't have to think too hard to figure out who might have done so.

Uther brushed hair out of her eyes and he looked as if he was trying hard to not look afraid. He shook his head as if she had fallen from a tree and sprained an ankle.

"What were you thinking, child?"

Someone paced behind Uther. From the clumsy footfalls, it could only be Arthur. This caused her to sit up despite Gaius' protests.

"What's happened? Has the army breached the gates? Are we safe?"

The pacing ceased. Arthur finally approached the bedside. "The army was destroyed." He smiled. "Thanks to you."

Morgana hesitated. Then, she smiled with relief. After all, that's what Morgana used to do.

"Thanks to me?"

"The staff." Arthur rubbed sweat from his brow. "It was found in the crypt along with you. It was—"

"Why did you leave your chambers?" Uther interrupted, his face growing red. "When the fighting started you should have stayed put, not throw on armor and grab a sword. Not only that, you should have known better than to go after a sorcerer alone. You should have told Arthur or one of the knights. You should have let them deal with it. Especially after..."

Ah. They thought she had stopped the army. After all, it wasn't like Merlin was going to prance around and brag that he'd used magic to destroy the staff. Of course not.

Her smile was true this time. "Why can't you just be grateful? I didn't exactly have the time to go searching for a knight while I was being chased by the living dead, now did I?"

Arthur rubbed his lips with a gloved hand, trying not to show a smile at her cheek, and Uther, as always, was not amused.

The King pushed down on the bed as he stood. "Ignoring your...defiance, this is cause for celebration. Cenred's army has dispersed, and peace has returned once again to Camelot." He glanced behind her to the physician. "See to it that my ward is sent to her chambers after you are done with your examination, Gaius."

The old man bowed in response as the King and his prince left the physician's chambers with heavy footfalls.

Morgana was gently helped into a sitting position. She tried to ignore the cold touch of the physician as he applied a poultice onto the massive cut found on the back of her head. For some reason, she felt as if he was colder than usual. Merlin must have told him something. It wouldn't have been surprising, yet it would explain the distant way he acted now.

Hating the silence, she glanced at the old man's back.

"Where's Merlin? Isn't he usually tripping about the place?"

If Morgana hadn't been paying attention, she wouldn't have noticed the way his hands shook as he held a cup of water. When he passed it over, she drank yet kept her gaze fixated on the old man.

"He's running errands for me at the moment. The siege has depleted all of my stock, and since the markets in the lower town are in ruins he's collecting herbs in the forest."

Heat rose within her chest. He said the word "ruins" with bitterness. As if he was blaming her for the destruction.

"Oh, is that so? But, isn't it dangerous to be walking around the forest so soon after a battle?" She hid a smirk. "What if he's jumped by a deserter? What if—"

"You can stop pretending to care, my Lady."

Her breath caught as the physician pressed a little too hard onto her head as he wrapped it with cloth.

"What?"

Gaius finished tying off the bandage, and he didn't meet her eyes as he passed a vial over to her. "For the pain."

"No." She slammed the vial down. "What did you just say to me?"

His old eyes darkened and they did not meet hers. "Anger and revenge darkens even the kindest of hearts. I had...hoped to protect you from this." He picked up the vial and stored it within a cupboard. "You may go."

"You act as if defending myself isn't justified."

"You aren't defending yourself, my Lady. You massacred dozens of citizens who-"

"Oh, and Merlin defended himself when he poisoned me with your supply?"

Gaius searched her eyes as if he was looking for a reason why she asked that in response.

"No. He did more than that. He defended Camelot. And you gave him no other choice."

She didn't look back as she stormed out, rage beating within her heart.

It was time to face her sister with the knowledge she now possessed.

Hello, everyone! Due to the quarantine, I've finally had time to focus on writing again happily yet sadly enough. Hopefully, you all like what is to come!