A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the wait, but I had trouble getting this chapter together. However, it will officially bring about an end to the Introduction Arc (finally). Thanks a lot to CHARLES CHUKU, Lady Cougar-Trombone, Garrek, Emperor's Sister, mersan123, Meri Ley, VestaraKhai, novelreader and BreakingFree2015 for reviewing the last chapter.

And since so many pointed it out... yes, Merlin still have a tendency to get himself into trouble. Trained by a High Priestess or not, he is still Merlin after all. Oh, and I recommend that you read the AN at the end, because I am explaining something important for this story down there!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Chapter Four: The Demise of Mary Collins

"Alysan duru ronne!"

Merlin held his breath as the lock to his cell in the dungeons clicked, confirming that the magic had done its work. For a few seconds, he didn't dare move in case one of the guards had heard the click and came to check on him, but it would seem that they were too busy with their Game of Dice to care. Licking his lips in anticipation, Merlin again cast a look towards the end of the corridor.

He had been sitting in his cell for the remainder of the afternoon. As soon as he had heard about Merlin's arrest, Gaius had come to visit him. While his guardian hadn't been particularly impressed with Merlin's actions against Arthur, he hadn't reprimanded him for them either since Arthur had been the one to initiate the conflict. Before he left, he had made Merlin promise not to do anything stupid and told him that he would try and pull some strings to get him out of there, without Merlin using magic to break out. Even though he didn't really fancy the thought of spending his second night in the castle as a prisoner, Merlin had reluctantly agreed.

However, that was before the mysterious voice had returned. It had started shortly after a servant had come and retrieved the empty tray of food that Merlin had received earlier that evening. What was more; this time it appeared as if he was in closer proximity to whatever it was that was calling out to him. It was as if the voice had been muffled and distant before, and now the cloth that had been covering its mouth had been removed. And now, it was easy to make out where it was coming from; below. So he hadn't been completely off when he had felt like it was coming from somewhere below his level when he had heard it in the corridor before lunch.

It was now just past midnight and the guards had just been replaced by a new pair, so it would be at least 3 hours until the next change. That gave Merlin plenty of time to get out of his cell, check what he wanted to check and then go back again and wait for Gaius to free him. He felt a little bad about betrayaing Gaius trust, but it couldn't really be called a "break out" as long as he made sure to get back into his cell again before anyone else noticed, right?

Knowing that he would need to get the guards' attention, Merlin gathered a whisk of the hay that made up his makeshift bed and rolled it up into a small ball. Slowly, without drawing attention to himself, he inched closer to the iron bars that kept him locked up (even though they weren't really "locked" per se anymore). Seeing that the coast was as clear as ever, he hunched himself over the small hay ball, to keep anyone from seeing what he was doing.

"Forbearnar." he whispered quietly, causing the hay-ball to start smoking.

Casting one last glance at the guards to make sure they hadn't noticed anything yet, Merlin turned around and allowed the ball to roll off to the side of his bars, away from where the guards were sitting. His goal accomplished, he quickly inched away from the bars as to not arouse suspicion and leaned against the far wall of his cell, pretending to be asleep. It didn't take more than 10 seconds before one of the guards came running to check what was causing the smoke. Merlin watched through half closed eyelids how the guard passed his cell.

Reaching out with his magic, Merlin waved his hand and caused the guard to lose his footing and fall backwards, hitting his head against the cold stone floor, instantly knocking him out. He was just about to get up and move to disable the other guard when he heard said guard approach. It would appear that he had seen his fellow comrade lose his footing and get knocked out.

Merlin held his breath as the other guard slowly but steadily made his way over towards where his friend was lying, unconcious. He was taking it one step at a time, obviously on guard after seeing his friend fall. Just as he passed the door to his cell, Merlin saw his chance.

"Ácweccan preowthwil!"

With a loud clang, the door to Merlin's cell swung open and hit the unsuspecting guard in the head. Merlin winced at the sound. That had to have hurt, even more than falling and hitting your head on the ground. If it had been anyone other than a guard that was guarding his own cell, Merlin would've probably felt bad for him.

After waiting a sec, just to make sure none of the guards got up, Merlin rose to his feet and left his cell. He quickly used his magic to dispose the guards back at their table, hoping that when they woke up they would believe that they had just imagined the smoke or that they had fallen asleep out of boredom. As he passed it, Merlin reached down and picked up the smoking ball of hay and incinerated it, making sure to leave no trace or evidence that anything had been set on fire in the dungeons, aside from the torches that lined the walls.

Not wasting any time, Merlin grabbed one of the torches and made his way over to the door at the end of the corridor. After hearing the voice call out to him earlier that evening, Merlin had been able to figure out that this was where the voice was coming from. And he after considering what he knew about the castle and its history, as well as the nature of the voice, he had a pretty good idea of what it was that was calling out to him as well.

Making his way down the dusty pathway, Merlin felt himself growing anxious. If his suspicions were correct... well, then that would explain why the pathway was so dusty and obviously unused for who knew how many years. As he made his way deeper down the stairs and tunnels, he could hear the voice getting closer. He could feel it.

"Merlin!"

As the pathway evened out and the dark tunnels grew slightly brighter, Merlin had to withhold a gasp as he exited the tunnels. He was standing by the edge of a large cave, hidden underneath the castle! There was no way he could go any further into the cave, since he was standing by the edge of a precipice, but the mere fact that he was so very deep underneath the castle, as well as the size of the cave, all but confirmed his suspicions of who he was about to face.

"I know you're there!" he called into the cave, his voice bouncing off the cliffs and walls.

For a moment, nothing moved in the cave. However, as the echo died down, a large shape jumped up from somewhere below the platform where Merlin was standing and flew over to land on the large rock in the middle of the cave, that was almost on the same level as the one where he was currently standing on. Merlin felt the breeze of the large creature's flapping wings and couldn't help but take a step back in wonder of the sight in front of him.

"You..." he whispered in awe at the humongus beast. "You're the great dragon, the last of your kind. Kilgarrah!"

At the mention of his name, Kilgarrah's eyes widened slightly and Merlin imagined that, had the dragon had eyebrows, he would've given him a look similar to the one Gaius seemed to prefer to give people when he was surprised or sceptical. It only lasted a moment though, as the ancient creature quickly regained his composure.

"I'm surprised that you know my name, young warlock. It is not a name that many people know, and even fewer ever bothers to speak it." he narrowed his eyes at Merlin. "Who told you?"

"Nimueh." Merlin said simply, recovering from the shock of the sudden appearence of the last dragon. He had guessed that this would be what awaited him, but his sudden appearence had still startled him. "I was her apprentice for six years before I came to Camelot."

While he didn't want anyone in Camelot to know that he had been apprenticed to a High Priestess, he figured that it couldn't hurt to tell the dragon that particular piece of information. It wasn't like he could go to Uther and turn him in and even if he wasn't locked up miles underneath the castle, Merlin doubted that Kilgarrah would sell out one of his own kind.

"Really?" Kilgarrah said with a surprised voice. "The prophecy did not foretell any previous interraction between you and the High Priestess."

Hearing that, it was Merlin's turn to narrow his eyes.

"Prophecies are not set in stone, Kilgarrah. They only warn us what will happen if certain events come to pass in a certain way."

Long ago, probably around 4 years ago to be exact, Nimueh had taught Merlin about the theory behind the Power of the Seers. At the time, he hadn't payed much attention to the finer details of it, since he had quickly understood that unless he had been born with the gift, he wouldn't be able to use it anyway. There were a number of Magical Abilities that could only be obtained through inheritance, and the Gift of Foreseeing was one of them. But one thing that he did remember from that lecture was that visions doesn't always come to pass. They were merely a warning that if something happened in a certain way, then that would be the end result.

"That is indeed true, young warlock." Kilgarrah admitted. "Tell me, have you met the young Pendragon Heir yet?"

Merlin frowned. Pendragon heir... that couldn't be anyone but Arthur. At least to his knowledge, Uther didn't have any other children and he was pretty certain that another possible heir to the throne would be well known throughout the kingdom.

"Yes I have." he admitted, wondering what the dragon was getting at. "But what does he have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" Kilgarrah said confidently, as if it should be obvious. "Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite Albion and bring magic back to our lands. And it is your duty to guide him towards that future, Merlin. It is you destiny!"

Hearing Kilgarrah's declaration, Merlin narrowed his eyes once again at the Ancient Creature. Having been tutored by a High Priestess of the Old Religion, Merlin was very familar with the legends about the Once and Future King. But Arthur of all people was supposed to be the Once and Future King? He couldn't help but snort at that thought. The Once of Future King was supposed to be righteous and fair, and Arthur was anything but righteous and fair.

"Destiny? In that case, perhaps I should kill him instead?" he said with barely restrained sarcasm, as he turned around and got ready to leave the cave. "I don't feel like cooperating with destiny."

Of course, Merlin had no intention of actually killing the Crown Prince. But he didn't have any intention of helping fulfil this prophecy either, as long as Arthur kept behaving like a clotpole. Slowly, he turned to glance over his shoulder at the dragon, who was staring at him with calculating eyes, as if he was trying to determine if Merlin was serious or not.

"Was that the only reason you called me down here? To tell me that I'm supposed to lead a spoiled prat to greatness?"

Kilgarrah seemingly ignored Merlin's jab towards his future king, and straightened out his wings as he prepared to take flight again. Despite Merlin's obvious disagreement that Arthur was the Once and Future King, he didn't seem deterred in the slighest.

"You certainly are not what I expected you to be, Merlin. But I still feel confident that you will do what is expected of you. Even you can't leave Arthur to his fate if you believe there is a chance that the prophecy can come true."

And with that, the great dragon took off and flew away to a deeper part of the cave, causing the chain attached to his ankle to rattle loudly in the empty space. Merlin stayed where he was for a moment, contemplating his words. After much debate, he realized that Kilgarrah was right. If there was a chance that Arthur might be the Once and Future King, no matter how unlikely that was, Merlin couldn't allow him to die until he was absolutely certain that the man wasn't who Kilgarrah thought him to be. With that thought in mind, Merlin exited the cave and began to make his way back towards the surface, back towards his cell in the dungeons where, ironically enough, he had been placed after a fight with the very same Arthur they had just been talking about.

MxM

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that Gaius finally returned to Merlin's cell. Having had nothing to do all day, Merlin had taken the time to catch up on the sleep he had missed out on during the night when he went to visit Kilgarrah. While he had waited for his guardian to seek him out, Merlin had kept pondering what he should do about Arthur and the threat made by Mary Collins. Even an amateur Witch could prove to be dangerous. In fact, she was more likely to be dangerous since she did not respond to any beliefs of the Old Religion and only used magic for her own selfish gains. It was people like her that had given magic a bad reputation prior to the Great Purge.

Despite what he had said to Kilgarrah though, Merlin didn't want Arthur to die. Over the years, he had learned not to show any mercy against people who stood in his way, at least not in the heat of battle, but there was a difference between being ruthless and needless death. He was still sceptical to the belief that Arthur might be the Once and Future King, but regardless if he was or not he shouldn't have to die, just so Merlin could prove a point.

When Gaius finally came down to the dungeons and unlocked the door, Merlin had began to feel anxious. He couldn't protect Arthur if he was locked up in the dungeons. It had been 3 days now since Mary Collins had declared that she would kill Arthur, and so far nothing had happened. But the longer time went by, the closer they got to the time when she would actually make an an attempt at his life and if that time came while Merlin was locked up, it wouldn't matter if he had resolved to protect Prince Clotpole or not.

"Now Merlin, I've managed to pull some strings to have you released. But there is a small price to pay." Gaius said, his voice letting the young warlock know that he agreed wholeheartedly that some kind of price should be payed for what he had done. "You will be serving drinks during tonight's feast, with no payment. Uther is having staff troubles at the moment, so I offered your services in exchange for your release from your imprisonment."

Merlin didn't protest and just nodded his head in acceptance. That sounded fair enough. He wouldn't have been let out of the dungeons unconditionally and he felt like an evening of serving drinks wouldn't be that bad. Furthermore, being there in the service of the Court would give Merlin a reason to keep an eye on Arthur during the festivities, so it saved him the trouble of coming up with an excuse.

"Well, I guess that's fair. After all, I did kick their precious Prince Prat in his private parts." he said as they made their way out of the cell.

Despite his obvious attempt to remain stern, Gaius couldn't completely surpress the amused smile that managed to make its way onto his lips at the thought of his young ward's "crime". Still, he reprimanded Merlin for being so foolish and childish as to do something like that to the crown prince of all people, to which Merlin resonded that it had been Arthur who had initiated the conflict.

As soon as they made it outside, Merlin had to squint his eyes due to the strong sunlight. Looking up towards the sky, he found that it had already fallen pretty low, so it couldn't be more than 2 hours at most before the feast would start. Preparations had probably already been made, but Merlin would still prefer to arrive early so he could scout out the area.

"So... where is this feast going to take place?" he asked as the two of them made their way back towards Gaius Quarters.

Considering the fact that there would be drinks served and that Uther required the prescence of a number of servants, Merlin guessed that it wasn't just a regular celebration like the one he had stumbled upon the night he had first arrived in Camelot. This wasn't an open festival, it was a more private and closed celebration for important and noble people. And for that very reason, Merlin didn' think that it would be held in the courtyard.

"The feast will be held in the Banquet Hall, and you're supposed to report there to receive your workload in an hour." Gaius said, casting an estimating glance at Merlin's current attire. Then he added: "I suggest you make a quick run to the bathhouse to clean yourself up, while I go fetch you some clean clothes. You look like you've slept in a haystack!"

Frowning, Merlin looked down on himself. He didn't look that bad, did he? Well... if you disregarded the dirt on his shoes and the dust on his pants. He sniffed. And maybe the smell that suggested that he had just spent the night in the stables, or sleeping on a dust and dirty dungeon floor... Okay, so maybe he was in need of some refreshing.

"That's probably because technically I did sleep in a haystack!" Merlin deadpanned as he thought of the pile of hay that had served as his bed over the night.

Gaius didn't comment on that, but he gave Merlin a look that clearly said "You got what you deserved". Rolling his eyes at the look his guardian was sending him, Merlin fell into a step beside Gaius as they made their way back towards their quarters to get Merlin ready for the feast. They didn't talk a lot during the trip back to the quarters, each lost in their own thoughts.

Barely half an hour later, Merlin walked into the Banquet Hall. As he had never been to this part of the castle, he had to be escorted there by Gaius, who had decided to show up early anyway to see if he could help out with something. As Gaius left him to go speak to the King, Merlin looked around curiously. The Banquet Hall had to be one of the bigger rooms or chambers in the castle, and it had 4 entrances. However, the room's rectangular shape made it impossible to remain in the room for a longer period of time without being seen, so hiding was out of the question for Mary Collins if she wanted to get ahold of Arthur.

'Unless,' he thought as something occured to him. 'she is doing the same thing as I do and is hiding in plain sight. That would explain why she haven't made a move yet. If she is to hide in plain sight, she must first find a way to become a plain sight.'

Looking around himself, he quickly noted the amount of servants that were present, running back and forth to set the tables, prepare drinks and light candles. It wouldn't be hard for her to hide here amongst the other servants if she had just managed to build enough trust to be regarded as just another servant.

There was also the possibility that she wouldn't strike during the actual feast, but before or after the celebration. If it had been him who wanted to assasinate someone, he would definetely prefer to do it where no one could see him commit the crime. While it would probably be harder to perform the actual assasination as it would require much more delicate timing and planning to catch the victim when no one else was around, it would be easier to slip out unnoticed afterwards with his life still intact.

"Merlin!" Gaius' voice brought the young warlock out of his thoughts. "Don't just stand there! The napkins won't get folded by themselves and there are still a few candles that needs lighting!"

Realizing he had been standing stock still since Gaius had first left him, Merlin quickly looked around for something to do. Grabbing a bunch of napkins from a nearby table, Merlin began to unfold them and then re-fold them in the way one of the other servants was doing, just further down the table. Not wanting to draw any attention to himself, he took his time with his work and did his best to appear bored with his task, but on the inside his mind was still racing with possibilities. There really was no way for him to figure out when or how Mary Collins would make her attempt on Arthur's life.

That was why amateur sorcerers and sorceresses were so dangerous; there was no specific way you could expect them to act. They were unpredictable and often reckless in their actions, blindly believing that their magic could save them from anyone who didn't have magic themselves. For example, Merlin knew for a fact that a practitioner of the Old Religion would never have been stupid enough as to make a public threat on someone's life, unless they already had their knife pressed against that person's throat.

"Well, well. Look who's found his way out of the dungeons!" a taunting voice said from somewhere behind him.

Merlin halted mid-action and felt his right eye twitch in irritation and the familiar voice. The last time he had heard that voice, it had ended with a public mace-fight and with Merlin kicking the voice's owner in the crotch. 'Well, at least that saves me the trouble of finding him.' Merlin thought bitterly as he turned around to find a certain Arthur Pendragon standing just a few feet away, leaning against one of the pillars that steadied the roof above their heads.

"I told you, I got more important stuff to do than just 'messing around'." Merlin retorted with an even voice, turning back to arranging the napkins he had been working on when Arthur interrupted him.

Even through the hustle that was going on around them, Merlin could clearly make out the unmistakeable sound of hard leather against cold stone, letting him know that Arthur had left the pillar and was walking over to him. By the sound of it, it almost sounded like the prince was making an effort to let Merlin know that he was approaching.

"I can see that." Arthur remarked as he came up to stand beside Merlin, watching as the servant deliberately avoided looking at him. "That was a cheap trick you pulled in the courtyard, by the way."

"Aiming below the belt isn't really cheating." Merlin said, still not looking at Arthur. "In a real fight, the only thing that matters is victory. If kicking someone in the crotch gives me a better chance of survival, then I'd gladly do it 100 times over."

Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Arthur grimace at the thought of being kicked 100 times over in the crotch and had to resist the urge to laugh. However, the mental image of himself kicking the Crown Prince in his private parts over and over again quickly won out and he snorted. Beside him, Arthur glared at the servant, having a pretty good idea of what he was finding so amusing.

"I will admit that it was a clever manouver, but nothing more. You were just lucky." he growled, glaring daggers at the boy who had almost castrated him the previous afternoon.

Merlin just shrugged and then went back to ignoring the Crown Prince. It didn't really bother him if it was just luck that had saved him or not. Had that been a real fight and they had both been out to kill each other, Merlin knew that Arthur would've been the one to die and he would've emerged victorious. Regardless if it had been luck, skill or anything else, his plan had worked and he had Arthur at his mercy when the prince had been rolling around on the ground, clutching his private parts in agony. Had he wanted to kill him, it wouldn't have been a hard to drive a sword through his chest at any given point from the moment Arthur fell over.

"In wars and real battles, there is no such thing as 'cheating'. There are no 'rounds' or 'rematches'. The only things that exist are 'victory' and 'survival', and means to achieve them. A human, no matter how powerful he or she might be, only have one life." Nimueh's voice practically echoed through his head as he recalled his mentor lecturing him more than once about his reluctance to kill or injure people unless he absolutely had to.

For a few seconds, Arthur kept glaring at Merlin as if waiting for him to give a serious reply, but when he got none he just huffed and left him alone. As soon as his back was turned, Merlin made sure to glance over his shoulder so he knew exactly where Arthur was going. If he was to keep the stupid prat alive, at least for the time being, he would need to know exactly where he was at all times during the evening.

MxM

Merlin stayed true to his word and made sure to always be within acting distance from Arthur. However, this got a whole lot harder the longer time went on, as more and more people began to flood into the Banquet Hall. While it made it easier for him to stay close to Arthur without arousing any suspicion, it made it harder for him to keep track of exactly where the prince was standing. The fact that so many of the guests, particularly women, wanted to greet the young Heir to the Throne did nothing to ease Merlin's task.

A few minutes prior to the announced starting time of the feast, a collective gasp ran through the crowd. Seeing that even Arthur was gaping at whoever had entered the hall, Merlin turned around...

The Lady Morgana had entered the Banquet Hall, and regardless of his own opinion on the King's Ward, Merlin found himself dumbstruck. The red silk that clung to her body glistened in the dancing light from the candles, along with the good part of soft skin that was revealed around her neck. The fabric went all the way down her legs and seemed to flow around her as she walked, creating a majestic stride that Merlin couldn't describe as anything other than elegant. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun at the back of her head, allowing just a few strands to fall down and frame her face to eventually reach her shoulders.

However, the longer Merlin looked at her the more he felt like something was missing. He shook his head slightly to clear it of the fog that had somehow made its way into his brain and then blinked twice as he took a closer look at his late acquintance. It definetely wasn't anything wrong with her dress or her posture. Truth to be told, even he could admit that she looked quite stunning. But there was something that made her appear dull, despite the physical beauty she radiated...

'She looks bored and unhappy, as if she doesn't want to be here!' he realized as he allowed his gaze to travel to her face, most specifically taking note of how her eyes looked tired and almost downcast. She was still smiling towards the people of the room, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" a by now familiar voice spoke from behind Merlin, bringing the warlock out of his thoughts.

Turning around, Merlin found that Gwen had managed to sneak up on him while he was studying Morgana. The girl smiled at him as she walked up to stand beside him, her eyes fixing on her mistress. Merlin followed her gaze, just as Arthur approached the young Lady of the Court, and offered her his arm. Morgana's eyes lit up slightly at the friendly gesture and her smile appeared to be more sincere when she accepted the Crown Prince as her escort to her seat.

"Yeah, she looks good I guess. I've never really had much interest in girls." Merlin admitted.

Over the last six years, Merlin hadn't really had the time to think about such trivial things as girls or building a life. He could admit that he had met one or two girls he had found attractive on some level, but there had never really been any interest in taking that a step further. If he ever thought about the future, all he could see was his dream of returning magic to the lands of Albion, and for him to have been part of that revoluton.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Gwen had turned away from Morgana and was now staring at him in disbelief. Frowning, he turned to face her, wondering why she was looking at him like that. Did he have something on his face?

"Really? You've never ever thought about what it would be like to settle down and have a family? Never wondered if you would ever find someone with whom you would like to share your life?" Gwen asked, disbelief still evident on her face. By the sound of it, Merlin would say that these were thoughts that Gwen herself pondered from time to time.

'Family...' the word echoed his Merlin's head. It was such a vague thing. What did family really mean? Before he had become apprenticed to Nimueh, he used to think that family were the people whom you were related to, like your parents or siblings. But now... he wasn't so sure anymore, or even if he wanted a family. His father had abandonned him and his mother before Merlin was even born. Could he still be considered Merlin's family, despite that? And what of Nimueh? She had been the one to practically raise him the last six years. Could she be considered family? After all, he was definetely closer to her than he was to his supposed "father"...

"Nope, the thought never crossed my mind." Merlin said, turning back towards the Head Table, where Arthur and Morgana had taken their seats on the King's right and left side respectively.

Finally realizing that Arthur was currently out of his reach, Merlin excused himself from his friend and made his way closer to the Head Table to fill the goblet of a nobleman sitting in front of Arthur. Gwen was, again, left staring after Merlin in mild confusion. A small part of Merlin's mind registered that he was making a habit of leaving Gwen with her mouth hanging open whenever they parted ways, but for the most part he was again focused on his task.

As he re-filled the goblet of Sir Pellinore, the knight he had delivered the Calming Draught to during his first day in Camelot, and received a "Thank you" in return, Merlin felt someone staring at him and looked up to find that Morgana was eyeing him with curious yet cautious eyes. Her eyes when she looked at him held more emotion and life than he had seen in them since she entered the Banquet Hall, but they weren't quite the blazing orbs of rage they had been when she threw him out of her chamber either. When she saw that she had his attention, she lifted her hand and waved him over.

Confused as to what the Lady of the Court could possibly want with him at a time like this, Merlin looked around himself to make sure she hadn't been waving at someone else. When there was no one else in sight, he pointed hesistantly at himself, to which she rolled her eyes and waved at him a little more forcefully. Frowning, Merlin made his way over to her.

"Uh, is there something I can do for you, milady?" he asked, doing his best to sound as indifferent as he could.

As she didn't seem to hold any animosity towards him, Merlin wondered if maybe she just didn't recognize him. He was wearing different clothes than he had been wearing at the time, and he probably looked a lot fresher and cleaner now than he had back then, being newly cleaned up and all that. However, those suspicions were quickly thwarthed when Morgana raised a delicate eyebrow and looked at him with scepticism.

"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you, Merlin." she said, her voice leaving no hint as to what she wanted to talk to him about.

For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other as if neither knew who was supposed to speak up at this point. It felt like they were playing a scene from a theatre and both thought that it was the other one's turn to have a line. After a few seconds of awkward silence between them, Merlin nodded his head to show that he was willing to listen. Morgana had just opened her mouth to say something when they were interrupted by Uther adressing the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen." he said, extending his arms as if he was about to hug someone. "We have enjoyed twenty years of peace, and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom, and myself, many pleasures. But few can compare to the honor of introducing; Lady Helen of Mora!"

As he finished his introduction, he began clapping his hands enthusiastically and the audience wasted no time to join him. As the King sat down in his seat, all gazes turned towards the far end of the room, where Merlin knew a scene had been built in preparation of this show. Merlin himself however, did not join in the applauds as his eyes landed on 'Lady Helen'. He thought his heart skipped a beat as he recognized the same woman he had found dead in the forest just two days ago.

Merlin felt the color drain from his face as his mind quickly put all the pieces together. Mary Collins hadn't been planning an assasination of Arthur, but a public murder of him, just like Uther had killed her son with a public excecution! 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son.' Merlin recalled Gwen had told him she had said before she escaped from the courtyard after Thomas Collins' excecution.

She must've known that Lady Helen was going to perform at this banquet (how she found out, Merlin had no idea) and she knew that if the King held a banquet, then he would invite all the important people in the kingdom to attend. It would be the perfect revenge; to kill Uther's son in front of all these nobles. So she had tracked down Lady Helen's convoy and killed her, before taking her place! That was why she had been forced to hide the corpse, to avoid any complications!

As the impostor began her performance, Merlin quickly realized what she was about to do. It wasn't as pronounced as it usually was, since it was brought forth in the form of a high-pitched singing voice, but a trained ear like his could easily pick up the magic in her voice. This wasn't just some regular song; it was a spell in the Ancient Tongue!

Quickly covering his ears, Merlin watched in morbid fascination as the audience began to fall asleep. The candles flickered out and people lay down their heads, as if they didn't have a care in the world. He felt, rather than heard, something heavy land on the table behind him and, glancing quickly over his shoulder, he found that Morgana had fallen face first onto the table.

Merlin felt his heart pound painfully in his chest as he watched Mary Collins leave her scene and move towards Arthur. She still hadn't let up her singing, which let Merlin know a very important detail; she had to keep singing her spell for it to be in effect. Taking a deep breath, Merlin tried to collect his thoughts. He had been in worse situations before, but he had to remain calm. Panicking would only lead to mistakes and in a situation like this, that was something that he couldn't afford.

Thinking quickly, Merlin went over what he knew in his head. Her goal was to kill Arthur, but the spell she had used did not appear to be lethal. Furthermore, she had to keep singing this spell for it to stay in effect, so Merlin would guess that whatever way she planned to kill Arthur, it wouldn't be through another spell, as that would mean breaking the first one by starting the new one. His suspicions were confirmed a mere second later, as the disguised witch reached inside her dress and pulled out a sharp-looking dagger, with her intense eyes fixed on Arthur.

As she neared the table where the Prince was sitting, Merlin quickly looked around for anyone who might see or hear him, aside from Collins herself. When he saw none, he swallowed hard and began to build up his magic. It was now or never.

"Ácéocian úre ágenspraec rów!" he whispered, focusing his magic on silencing the woman and breaking the spell.

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Mary Collins choked and came to a stop. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as she realized that her tongue had been forced to the back of her mouth, blocking off her air supply and keeping her from singing even a single tone. All around them, people began to wake up from their magically induced sleep, proving that Merlin's theory had been correct. Seeing that her plan was falling to pieces, Collins began to struggle even harder to break whatever curse had been put on her, even as the lack of air began to take its toll on her.

"Lady Helen? What is the meaning of this?!" a confused yet wary voice sounded from the table the Impostor had just been approaching.

To the side, Merlin watched quietly as 'Lady Helen' turned to meet Uther Pendragon's hard gaze with fearful eyes. He could hear a soft moan from behind him, telling him that Morgana was waking up, but for now he ignored her. The panic that began to settle into the diguised witch's wild eyes had turned into a look of desperation and a desperate and scared human tended to act rashly and in unpredictive ways. Slowly, he began to inch closer towards the other side of the Head Table, towards where Arthur was just now starting to wake up.

Realizing that she had been caught, literally, with a dagger in her hand, 'Lady Helen' gripped the weapon tighter in her hand as her desperate eyes drifted to Uther's right side, where Arthur just lifted his head. Merlin got a semi-second's warning before the witch let out a furious hoarse hiss (that was the only sound she could make with her tongue still tied to the back of her mouth) and threw her dagger at the prince, intending to end his life.

For a milli-second, Merlin almost reached out with his magic to stop the projectile from reaching his target, but managed to fight down the urge. He was right in front of King Uther Pendragon himself. If he was to use magic now, no matter for what purpose, he would soon be joining Mary Collins on the Excecutioner's Block. Cursing mentally, he threw himself forward and pushed Arthur out of the way...

... and cried out as he felt the dagger dig itself deep into the left side of his back.

As he and Arthur both fell to the floor, Merlin had to grit his teeth to keep himself from screaming at the pain that washed through his body from where the dagger was still buried into his flesh. He curled his hands into fists and saw that they were shaking. Having been able to rely on his magic without caring about the consequences for so long, it had been well over 2 years since he had sustained any serious injury like this one, and he did not enjoy its return! Biting his jaws tightly together, he looked over his shoulder to find that Mary Collins had collapsed as well, her lack of oxygen finally taking out its right on her.

Cries of shock and fear were heard all over the Banquet Hall as the Transformation Spell that Mary Collins had applied on herself to take on Lady Helen's appearence finally wore off, as her magic weakened in conjunction with her failing conciousness. Had his own condition been any less dire, Merlin would've probably laughed at the way Uther's eyes widened to the size of small plates as he recognized the woman.

"Seize her!" he roared at the guards, pointing towards the woman, but he hadn't need to worry. Her strenght had faded to the point that she could barely keep herself upright anymore and with one last raspy breath, she rolled over, rendered unconcious from her lack of oxygen.

For a moment, the entire Banquet Hall was almost completely quiet, save for Merlin's own heavy breathing and the footsteps of the guards that cautiously approached the witch to apprehend her and take her away. Feeling his strenght leave him due to his loss of blood, Merlin too rolled over as best he could with the dagger still buried into his back...

"MERLIN!"

MxM

Merlin sighed in relief as he felt the Pain-Relief Potion that Gaius had made for him ease the burning sensation in his lower back. After Arthur's shocked cry of his name, everything had been kind of blurry for the young warlock and he was almost positive that he had actually lost conciousness when they were moving him from the Banquet Hall to his bed in Gaius' Quarters. His guardian had instantly been at his side the moment he realized that his ward was hurt and had managed to stall the bleeding enough to sustain him while they transported him to the Quarters.

He wasn't sure exactly what time it was, but he knew he had regained full awareness of himself about 20 minutes ago. The relief that had washed over Gaius' face when he saw Merlin's eyes lit up with recognition at the sight of him was still etched onto the inside of his eyelids. He still hadn't quite grasped the concept that someone would actually worry so much about him. It made him feel strangely content lying there, despite the fact that he had just went half way to the afterlife and back.

As he drew in another deep breath and relaxed his muscles, Merlin heard the front door creak open and then close again, letting him know that someone had entered the quarters. Frowning, Merlin tried to sharpen his ears as he heard Gaius and whoever had entered converse with hushed voices, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. He was just about to try and get up to listen in on them when two pairs of feet approached his door.

"Merlin?" Gaius asked, looking over his young ward with a calculating glance. "Are you feeling well enough for a visitor? Normally, I wouldn't allow my patients to have visitors until they're in decent health again, but she's very adamant."

Hearing that, Merlin's frown deepened. 'A visitor?' he thought in confusion. Who in Camelot aside from Gaius would care enough about him to come visit him when there was a Banquet still going on? He knew for a fact that while Arthur had followed them to the Quarters to make sure that the he was okay (after all, he had saved his life), but the prince had returned to the Banquet Hall as soon as his life was out of danger.

"Uh, sure. No problem. I'm feeling a lot better already, so why not?" he said as he sat up in his bed and rolled his shoulder, as if to show that he could move his body withour grimacing now.

Gaius gave him a calculating look, before he eventually sighed.

"Just remember that just because you feel better, it doesn't mean that you really are better." he reminded his ward, before turning around and motioning to whoever was standing behind him that it was okay to enter.

As the old man stepped aside to allow Merlin's visitor to enter his bedroom, Merlin found himself staring at the visitor in disbelief. She was still wearing the same elegant dress as she had been wearing at the feast, but her tied up bun had been undone and her otherwise pale cheeks had somehow managed to attain a slight shade of reddish pink. But the biggest difference about her that Merlin noted was that the look in her eyes wasn't the detached and dull look she had when she walked into the Banquet Hall, or the angry look that had been present in them when she had thrown Merlin out of her chambers. Merlin still couldn't quite make out what was going through her mind, but she looked more alive than he had ever seen her before.

"Morgana?" he stuttered in disbelief. "W-what are you doing here?"

A/N: And I think that's as good a time as any to end it. I had a lot of trouble getting this chapter together, but I feel like I managed... okay? It's still not the best chapter I've written, but it will do. And I apologize for the lack of Morgana's POV in this chapter, but it was mainly Merlin who did anything in the chapter and after all, he is the main character...

I want to take this time out to kind of warn you guys, if you aren't familiar with my writing style. I like to twist and turn my stories until they are as far away from the original plotline as they can come, without really removing the original plot. To accomplish that, I have a tendency to either bring in an additional element of some kind or additional characters, and my plans for this series involves both.

Now, don't panic! All I'm saying is that in the "arc" that begins in the next chapter, we will start moving away from the original series and introduce one of these "additional" elements/characters. Don't go mad in the review section about it until you have read that chapter!

With that out of the way, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I would appreciate it very much if you would give me some feedback to work on. What was good and what was bad? Leave me a review with your thoughts! :)