CHAPTER 3

It had been a very very long week. Camelot had a meeting with a neighboring kingdom and of course one of the servants of the other king tried to kill Arthur and Gwen and Luckily Merlin had been able to stop it. Not to mention Arthur was working Merlin to death. Plus a sickness was spreading and every moment Arthur did not need him, Merlin was helping Gaius. He was currently walking around the woods, trying to find the right herb Gaius needed for a remedy he was working on.

He whiped the sweat off his forehead and bent down pick up a root. The next thing he knew, he was flying back. He felt a sharp pain in his head and everything went black.

xxx

Morgana whispered a spell and sent Merlin flying. She only wanted to knock him unconscious, but she winced as his head hit a tree. She ran to unconscious body and placed his head on her lap. The back of his head was bleeding and ran on to her dress. Her poor Merlin; she never really thought about how much damage that spell could do.

She ripped off a strap of fabric from his shirt and pressed it to the wound. She never was good at healing magic but she was sure she had some healing potions back at her hut. She needed to get him there before infection set in. She laid a quick kiss on his cheek before dragging him back to her horse.

xxx

The first thing Merlin noticed when he came conscious was a banging in the back of his head, the next thing he noticed that his rists were tied to a roping hanging from the celling. He groaned, this was not the first time something like this happened and most likely would not be the last time. All part of his job. He struggled at his restrains but failed to get loose.

He glanced around his surroundings to see he was inside a small cottage. It consisted of a small bed, a table, a fire place with a pot, and jars full of objects scattered everywhere. He recognized a few herbs but most he had no idea about. He concentrated and sensed magic from most of them. Who ever had him had magic, he was sure of it.

He was tempted to use his magic to free himself but decided against it. Whoever held him here could or could not know about his magic. If they didn't then he could use it to his advantage, play the dumb servant and be underestimated. Like always. But, if they did know about his magic, it would be a different story.

A few minutes Morgana walked in, he really was not that surprised. He was just happy he choose NOT to use his magic. The last thing he needed was for Morgana to find out he was Emrys. That would be a disaster. Maybe Morgana already knew, maybe that's why she kidnapped him. Wait, was she humming?

It was odd sight to see. Morgana had a huge smile plastered across her face and she hummed. Part of him of curious, the other part terrified. She was happy for some strange reason and here being who she was, it probably was not a good thing. It was most likely going to end in his death, or her using him somehow to kill Arthur.

He watched as she poured water into a glass and his dry thought burned. She walked over to him and pressed the glass to his lips.

"Drink." she commanded

As thirsty as he was he still refused to drink. The water could be poisoned, enchanted, or worse. Even if it was just water he still needed to hold his ground.

After a few seconds she pulled the glass away and set it down on the table without saying a word. She walked around to his back where he could not see her. He strained to look over his shoulder only to have her move his head back with her hands.

"Stay still." she barked

He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He hissed in pain and pulled away.

"Shh." she said in a softer voice that did not match her previous tone at all "I am trying to help you. Just relax."

Merlin was confused by her soft voice and the fact that she said she was trying to 'help' him. She could possibly trying to kill him but he really had no choice but to do what she wanted. He winced at another sharp pain in his head. Minutes passed and eventually Morgana wrapped a cool cloth ageist the part that stung and he sighed at the relief.

"There we go." Morgana said and walked back to where he could see her. She still had the wide grin across her face.

She grabbed the glass full of water once again lifted it to her lips. She drank a few sips and set the water back on the table. Her eyes never left his and it was kinda creeping him out.

"What do you want?" he snapped

She sat down on a chair next to the table. "Nothing more then usual. Just Camelot mine, Arthur dead, and things like that."

Was she flirting with him? Why was she not threatening his life or trying to enchant him or worse?

"You can relax Merlin. I am not gonna kill you, if I was I would have let the cut on your head do the job." she said as she took another sip of water.

"Then what do you want with me?" Merlin asked

"Are you sure you don't want any water?" Morgana said as if he had not said anything "I dragged you for hours in the hot sun. You are going to be get dehydrated."

Merlin rolled his eyes. If she was trying to pretend she cared it was not working. His thought still burned and he admitted he was tempted to agree to water but he did not want to give in.

"I forgive you for poisoning me." she said as if she was said 'I forgive you for bumping into me.'

He felt guilt rise up from what he done to her, but he ignored it. He did what was right. If he didn't then Camelot would have fallen. He had no other choice.

"You did what you thought was right. At the moment you thought it was the only resolution." she spoke looking her directly in the eye. She stood up and walked up to him. She cupped his cheek in her hand and he was to confused to say anything. "I have also done some terrible things. But, we can both move on. I know you don't agree but you will. I have only had my eyes opened a little while ago, and I want you to see it to. We can be together, I promise." As she said the word promise she plucked a single hair from his head.