Look who's updating! Yeah! Okay, no excuses, but I started a new job last year and it kinda... became too much hassle to write and work for a while after that and then I kinda forgot about this story... oops. But I'm back... for now... thanks for the patience.

Thanks for reading, thanks for every one of your comments, and here's hoping (fingers crossed people) that I get back to you with a new chapter before next July.

Bye!

"Please tell me it was a dream," Arthur groaned with his head in his hands, unable to bring himself to look at Gwen. "Please tell me I was hallucinating."

"I could, but I'd be lying," Gwen replied with a kind smile and Arthur groaned again. "It's not that bad, Arthur."

"Says you," he retorted, his voice muffled by his hands. "I can never face him again."

"Non-sense," Gwen replied knowing Merlin wouldn't take it personal. He'd tease Arthur relentlessly, but that was nothing new between the two of them. "Merlin is your best friend..."

"That makes it worse," Arthur grumbled jumping slightly when someone knocked at the door. He sighed loudly when Merlin's voice called his name through the door, looking up, and called, "Might as well come in, Merlin. Get this over with."

The door opened slowly and Merlin stepped carefully into the room, a wary look on his face. He eyed Arthur for a long moment before asking, "You are you again, right?"

With another, much longer, sigh, Arthur made a circular gesture with his hand and said, "Yes. Just get the jests over with so we can move on with our lives."

Gwen knew Merlin responded, she saw his mouth move, but she didn't take in his words, too busy looking at him. There was something off about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, and it bothered her more than she would have liked to admit.

"Merlin," she started cutting off whatever Arthur was about to say, "are you well?"

"Excuse me?" Merlin turned his eyes on her, eyebrows lifting in question. "Of course, Gwen, I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile, but he couldn't quite stop himself from curling his hands into fists inside his jacket sleeves. And just like that it clicked.

She forced herself to remain calm, keeping her eyes on Merlin and away from the chair in the corner, very much aware of the look of inquiry Arthur was giving her and his court sorcerer.

"Are you certain?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed but he still replied, "Yes, Gwen, I'm certain."

"What's going on?" Arthur demanded after a long pause.

"Nothing, Arthur," Merlin stated just as Gwen said, "That's not Merlin."

A tense silence settled over the room, so heavy that no one seemed to be breathing, only to be broken by a scoff of disbelief from Merlin. "Of course I am," he insisted but he couldn't quite help the way his eyes briefly flashed green before changing back to blue, reminding Gwen of another pair of eyes looking at her from an enchanted mirror the night before.

"That's not Merlin," Gwen repeated giving her husband a desperate look. "Arthur, you have got to believe me."

A conflicted look flickered across Arthur's face, his eyes darting between Gwen and Merlin, before they rested on his wife. He nodded, and she felt relief flood her for just a moment before cold fear washed over her when a flicker of silver flew across the room towards Arthur.

She stepped in between the dagger and her husband, expecting the stab of metal to pierce her skin, but felt a faint tingling in her limbs followed by a rush of wind instead. She watched as the dagger shot back towards her attacker, narrowly missing fake Merlin by mere inches, implanting itself in the wall with a resounding thud.

"Where did you get that?" Not Merlin glared at the glowing green emerald resting against Gwen's chest, his hand raising part way as if to try and snatch it away from her.

Instinctively, Gwen touched the emerald, astounded by how cold it felt to the touch, and said, "A friend."

"I see Emrys has been keeping busy," Not Merlin muttered curling his lip into a snarl. His eyes settled on Arthur next and he said, "Change any laws lately, brother?"

"Morgana," Arthur gasped taking a step towards her, running into Gwen's back.

"No," Morgana answered with a cruel smile, "I'm Merlin." Then she disappeared in a flash of light, both Arthur and Gwen shielding their eyes.

When everything settled, Arthur rushed forward, yanking the dagger out of the wall. He looked down at it, anguish evident on his face. He didn't say anything for a whole minute before turning his gaze on Gwen. "How did you know?"

"What?"

"How did you know?" he repeated slowly walking towards her, clutching the dagger tightly. "How did you know that wasn't Merlin?"

"His jacket," Gwen answered softly nodding towards the chair in the corner, Merlin's jacket neatly folded on it. "He gave it to me earlier..." she trailed off, clutching her pendant tightly. "I hope he is alright. He had hurt himself before we split up." Merlin, no Morgana, hadn't shown any signs of injury either, another thing Gwen should have picked up on, knowing for a fact that Merlin had been bleeding when they parted ways, her stomach clenching with concern for her friend. "I hope he's alright," she repeated a little quieter, looking up at her husband.

After a nod of agreement, Arthur asked, "Are you well?" His hand rose towards her, fingertips brushing against the fabric of her dress, eyes darting around looking for a wound that did not exist. "How did you...?"

Gwen lifted the emerald and whispered, "Merlin."

Arthur's hand curled into a fist and he nodded again, dropping it to his side. "We need to gather the men, find Merlin."

"Agreed." Gwen nodded already heading towards their wardrobe to change into pants and a tunic. "Where do we start?"

"Gunivere, you can't..." Arthur trailed off when Gwen gave him a withering look, taking several steps away from her. "Are you sure...?"

Shoving her dress into the wardrobe, pulling on the first set of clothes she could find (both were probably Arthur's), Gwen turned to Arthur and stated, "He's my friend too. I'm going. That's final."

"Alright," Arthur answered grabbing a pair of boots off the floor and handing them to her. "Let's go."