Morgana took a deep breath, taking the sword in her hand. The only thing that could be heard in the room was Arthur and Guinevere's breathing as they slept. Her mouth was turned into a line and her heartbeat fast in her chest, pondering on the possibility of retreating now that it was still possible.

In other circumstances, she would have refused Mordred's plan, deeming it a ridiculous and how it just wasn't worth it. However, Guinevere accusing her of attempting to tarnish their reputation was a last strand that up until now, Morgana hadn't fully realized was one bad moment with the red-haired from snapping in half.

She looked at both swords side by side under the moonlight. Visually, they were indistinguishable from each other. She put the new sword in Arthur's scabbard and turned Excalibur into a comb that she put in her hair. Morgana gave one last look at the sword in Arthur's scabbard before she disappeared out of the bedroom and returned to her own.

She appeared back in her bedroom, thankful for not having the need to go through the hallways and having to find ways to sneak through the guards that guarded the castle at night. She took a deep breath in the comfort of her room, trying to ignore the pressing feeling in her chest. If everything went according to plan, the truth would come out and Guinevere would no longer feel like it was in the right to criticize others.

There was the soft sound of someone moving on her bed. She brushed her skirt and walked to it. Accolon's eyes fluttering open briefly, turning until he saw her standing, smiling in her direction. She moved the mattress to lay by his side, eyebrows knit together, still doubtful of what she had done.

"Did I wake you up?" Morgana mumbled, leaving a soft kiss in his lips. He wrinkled his nose.

"Hey." he smiled, turning to his side to look at her closer. Morgana knew it was dark, and with only the moonlight leaking through the bedroom's window he could barely see a trace of her.

Morgana laid on the bed so could be lying next to him, waiting to feel his chest move up and down in his slumber.

"Do you see a future, Morgana?" he questioned; his voice taken her by surprise. Usually he fell asleep instantly, like most knights did.

Morgana smiled, "I've told you I don't have that kind of magic, I can't know who the safest bet for the next tournament is."

He laughed slightly, remembering the old conversation, "I mean, for you and me, together."

His tone shifted, with a more serious tune to it. With them being together for little over three years, Morgana supposed it was normal for him to ask something like that, but the timing took her by surprise.

"Of course I do,"

"Do you see us getting married someday?"

"What?" Morgana rose up, eyes shining blue and the candles in her bedroom lit up. Accolon shifted in his bed, raising until he was sitting.

"You and me, someday in the future, getting married, having kids maybe," he continued. Morgana froze for a second, swallowing hard, trying to allow his word to sink in her chest.

"Oh, Accolon, I... I love you," she spoke, with all the honestly she could, "I love you very much... but marriage? That's..."

"Not something for you?" he rose an eyebrow, eyes soft. Morgana shook her head, mouth in a line.

"Not right now, I'm sorry."

"Be honest with me, Your Grace, do you love me?"

"Of course I love you," she assured.

"What about Merlin?"

The question took her aback, she frowned for a second, "Merlin?"

"I've seen the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him is different that the way you looked at him when we arrived," he explained. Morgana opened her mouth and closed it quickly again, trying to find an answer to Accolon's words.

Morgana was glad she was feeling like she was getting her friend back. Some of the happiest days of her life had been alongside Emrys, but the relationship they had now and what they had left behind gave them not chance for them to consider anything else beyond that. At least, that's what she wanted to believe.

"That doesn't mean anything," she said, Accolon smiled softly, a sadness in his eyes that tugged Morgana's heart.

"It does, your grace, it unfortunately does,"

"Accolon... I..."

"Hey, it's fine, it was wonderful while it lasted, I'll get to tell everyone Morgana Lefay and I dated, there is no higher honor a man can achieve" He smiled, Morgana reached to him, holding him as tight as she could, feeling him return the hug.

"I'm really sorry" her eyes filled with tears.

"It's fine, Morgana, it was a pleasure to get to know you" He passed a hand over her hair.

"The pleasure was all mine, believe me, there are people who spend their entire lives wanting to know someone like you. This island is too small to carry all your weight" She smiled, grabbing his face between her hands when the hug broke, "I hope I can still get a letter with your next adventure. I've met knights who couldn't expect to be half as good as you are."

Accolon nodded, "And I hope I can read a letter with the goings in your life," Morgana laughed, until she saw him shift in the bed and stand up. She followed him.

"Won't you stay the night? It's dangerous out there," her voice resonated. He turned to her; an eyebrow lifted.

"One last goodbye," he suggested, Morgana smiled.

"A goodbye, not the last."

-.-.-.-.-.-.

Valerie stared at Audrey and Gabriel's empty seats. She had never gotten a message from Audrey, and the message she had sent her mother in the morning hadn't been responded by the woman. Valerie hoped that it was because Audrey had told her not to answer, and that the pressure she felt on her chest was more about the fact that Gabriel was missing, or that she had acquired a sixth sense to know when a knight would show up and interrupt her life.

With her head resting on her hand, Valerie was finding it a lot harder to focus on the upcoming idea that the first class of her last week of the school year was about to start. It wasn't because she had woken up early, she was sure of that. Every time she thought about it, her eyes went to the empty seats on the classroom.

"...Valerie." a hand moved in front of her. The girl blinked a couple times, shaking her head to find Iman looking at her as she adjusted in her seat.

"Sorry, were you saying anything?" Valerie questioned; Iman knit her eyebrows together.

"Just good morning," she mumbled, "You looked a bit gone, are you alright? Have you heard anything about Gabriel?"

"Nope," Valerie shook her head, "Nothing of him; or Audrey for that matter"

"Are you alright?" Iman repeated.

"I am," Valerie mumbled, Iman rose an eyebrow.

"If you say so."

"I heard my mom say he ran away from home," Olivia's voice got to Valerie's ears, her eyes shot in her direction after she and Iman exchanged a look.

"Gabriel? No way!" Luke, a boy with who Gabriel often hung out with answered her, "he wouldn't run away from home, the guy was supposed to go to France this weekend, and we were getting something ready for the last day of classes," Luke said and Jack elbowed him, pressing his fingers over his lips once he got the boy's attention.

"That would mean he bailed on whatever you were planning to do,"

"Don't be like that Olivia, you can't seriously believe he would run away," Jane spoke, rolling her eyes.

"Why not?" Olivia's eyes shot in her direction, "That's what my mom said, and she's usually right about this sort of thing, plus if you haven't noticed, Audrey hasn't arrived either and she's always early to class,"

Olivia was one of those classmates you mostly tolerated. In a good day, you could hold a decent conversation with her; as long as it didn't go against anything, she had a very closed view in. Valerie sometimes had to muster all her strength to not stop a class presentation and slap her across the face for interrupting them over and over again. She did tell her to shut up the time she was making fun of Luke's stutter, it earned her a visit with the principal, but there was not a part on Valerie's body that regretted it.

"She could be sick," Jack deadpanned, Luke nodded besides him.

"Or worried, her boyfriend went missing, I mean, if my girlfriend disappeared out of the face of the earth, I'd be pretty concerned too, you know?" Luke spoke.

"Here's what I think happened, Audrey is pregnant and she and Gabriel ran away to not deal with the consequences of being a pair of idiots," Olivia smiled with pride as if she had come with a deduction worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Everyone that had heard her sunk in an uncomfortable silence. Valerie, on the other hand, took a deep breath.

Olivia noticed the silent, and her face twisted, probably after realizing that they were'nt going to agree with her, "Don't look at me like that, you know that's perfectly plausible, why else wouldn't they tell anyone where they're running away?"

"The fuck do you know exactly?" Valerie spat. Her classmate's eyes turned to her. Olivia wrinkled her nose, looking at her up and down.

"Excuse me?"

"Did they tell you they were running away? Are you a fucking doctor with x-ray vision to know when someone's pregnant? Or a fucking cop?" Valerie continued, standing up from her seat. Hands on the desk, Olivia almost seemed to take a step back.

"You shouldn't be talking like that," she muttered, her eyes slowly glancing at Jack.

"You are the one who shouldn't be talking like that, you don't know shit about what's going on and how worried sick Gabriel's father is!" Valerie's voice rose, it wasn't long before Olivia was the only one standing in front of her.

"...I don't think I'm wrong, you're overreacting," Olivia wrinkled her nose, rolling her eyes.

Valerie walked towards her; Olivia was slightly taller than her. She took a step back when the furious girl was in front of her.

"And not to mention the fact that you are a fucking bloody rotten one-braincelled git to think the two of them would come up with something like that!"

Valerie took a deep breath. The anger still clear in her eyes.

"Whatever," Olivia rolled her eyes and turned her back on her, ready to take her seat. Only then, Valerie noticed the rest of her classmates had already done something similar. With her mouth tense in a line and her heart beating fast in her chest, Valerie returned to her seat.

"You sure you're alright?" Iman questioned. Valerie nodded, taking another deep breath, giving another glance to Gabriel and Audrey's seats.

-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Mary, we need to talk," Jonathan blurted, the girl stopped picking her things and looked at the boy with a lifted eyebrow.

"About what?" she mumbled, putting the last of her notebooks inside her bag. She turned to him, who took a deep breath looking around at his classmates.

"In private" he muttered, leaning forward. His heart was beating faster than usual in his chest.

Mary nodded with a slight shrug, "Fine," Jonathan relaxed for a second, although it did little to subdue the shaking of his hands, that he opened and closed around the strip of his schoolbag. Their classmates were getting out of the classroom one by one as fast as they could. He could vaguely hear someone complaining about them spending their last days together as a group and how important it was to make the most of it.

"Are you two coming?" Henry questioned throwing his schoolbag over his shoulder.

"Not yet, Jonathan's going to declare his undying love for me," Mary brushed off, Jonathan stared at her with eyes opened wide, only to furrow his eyebrows second later and scoff. Mary laughed, "I'm just joking. We're just going to talk for a second about the party this Wednesday,"

Henry smiled wide, turning his back on them, "We'll wait for you outside then, come on Lizzie,"

It felt the last person who left the classroom took far too long to do so.

"So, what can I do for you?" Mary's voice resonated at his side turning to him as soon as the last person got out. Jonathan stood up, only to sit on his desk instead of his chair with his schoolbag over his shoulder. Mary was standing, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"I know you took Audrey and Iman to the security room," Jonathan exclaimed, Mary rose an eyebrow, a flash of realization passing through her face.

"Truth be told, there wasn't anything secure about it," she brushed off with a wave of her hand, "no one was in there and it smelt like if someone had left food in there for a little too long." she wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in front of her face. Jonathan's heart still beat fast in his chest. He looked at Mary, and the hint of amusement in her face disappeared.

"Why?" his eyebrows were knit together, his nose wrinkled for a second.

"What do you mean why?"

"Why did you take them there?" he asked, Mary sighed.

"It wasn't my idea, I mean, I was the one who told them we had to do something, but it was Henry who pointed out the cameras..." Mary probably noticed the confusion in Jonathan's face, "We're not dumb, Jonathan, we saw your eyes glowing and the shield manifest, it was pretty obvious it had to be you." she rolled her eyes.

"No, it wasn't," he spat, Mary laughed.

"Why did you ask for Audrey and Iman's help?" he continued. Mary lifted from the wall.

"When you were talking to Audrey and Gabriel we figured out something was up, and Lizzie sneaked on them and overheard them saying something about a knight, we knew something was up and I asked for their help and they agreed,"

"Why did you keep the secret?" Jonathan rose an eyebrow, Mary tilted her head, "As far as I'm concerned, you haven't told anyone, which is incredibly unusual for you, half the class found out Henry had a girlfriend an hour after he told you." This time, it was Mary who fumbled her eyebrows together, smiling for a second that quickly vanished.

"That's because we owe you, and because Lizzie said she would shun me out of every party or reunion we might have, and we both know how deadly serious that girl is when she makes a promise," she said like it was the most obvious thing of the world with a movement of her hand.

"You owe me?" Jonathan questioned, eyebrows furrowed, a different kind of confusion in his face, trying to make memory of what favor the three of them could owe him that keeping the silence on something like that could be an appropriate payment.

"On the few occasions you do the schoolwork early, you do it just to send it to the rest of us," Mary began, "I still remember the day that I couldn't study for an exam because I had stayed up all night reloading the page to buy concert tickets after I finally convinced my mom to let me go and you switched my exam with yours and finished all the answers, and the day Lizzie was crying her eyes out because she just couldn't finish an essay and had forgotten about it because of a family emergency, you gave her your own and told the teacher you have forgotten yours at home; the very day of that madness you were doing the schoolwork just so you could pass it to Henry, I think the least we could do to pay you back is keep this tiny little secret even if my mouth is burning to shout it to the world,"

Jonathan's frown hadn't disappeared, but he allowed himself to smile with amusement, "Thank you,"

"You're welcome," Mary beamed with pride, adjusting her schoolbag, and moving her head slightly so Jonathan would walk with her considering the conversation finished "so magic, huh?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes, shifting uncomfortably, "Yeah... it's not as cool as you might think"

"I hardly doubt that."

"Does the little Gremlin know?" Mary rose an eyebrow, Jonathan blushed opening his mouth to speak. "Who am I kidding? of course she does" Mary interrupted, Jonathan smiled softly.

"Now come on, I'm starving, and you've got to buy me food."

Jonathan feigned offence, wrinkling his nose, "You must be out of your fucking mind if you think I'm buying you anything" Mary shrugged.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Valerie was hunching over the desk of her bedroom, trying to finish her homework. It was an entire waste of time, but the teacher had assured them up and down that she was still on time to change their grades and would gladly do so if they failed to hand the homework the following day. Audrey hadn't showed up at school, in the entire day, and Valerie would be lying if she didn't say that left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The doorbell rang, the bell not even having the time to finish its tune before whoever was on the other side pressed it again. Valerie stood up from her desk, rushing down the stairs two by two, assuring she was coming. Merlin was barely opening the door by the time Valerie was reached down. That didn't stop the girl, instead, she stood next to him.

Audrey's mom was standing in front of them. Eyebrows closely knit together, looking at Merlin up and down with a puzzled expression. Her hands were trembling, and her mouth was in a line.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Baker," Valerie greeted, hesitant. When she heard the girl's voice, it was almost as if the woman had suddenly remembered how to breathe again.

"Valerie, hello, is Audrey here?" she stood up straighter, looking at the inside of the house.

Valerie knit her eyebrows together, glancing at Merlin whose face had confusion written on it, "Excuse me?"

"Yes, Audrey, is she here?" she repeated, her voice more rushed and impatient this time, "She was supposed to return last night from searching but I've been looking around and she's not there and Jason says he saw her with you yesterday,"

"Audrey told me you were going to pick her up last night..." Valerie mumbled, she watched the woman's face contort and her eyes fill with tears, Merlin looked at the girl unsure as the weight slowly sunk in Valerie's chest. "Aunt Morga... Moira!"

"What's the matter?" Valerie hadn't been entirely sure when her aunt got to her side until she heard her voice. At first, she was looking at her with worry before her eyes turned to Audrey's mom, "Is everything alright, Jane?"

"We have to go back," Valerie blurted, first looking at her aunt and then at Merlin whose eyes didn't divert from the scene.

"It's Audrey..." the woman hesitated, her voice breaking for a second, "I can't find her anywhere, she's not answering her phone, and she didn't return home last night, I told her to call me if she wanted me to pick her up but she never did. I assumed the girls were friends again and she had come to spend the night, but she's not answering her phone..." her voice broke, Morgana grabbed the woman's wrists softly.

"Take a deep breath," Morgana instructed, she did as she was told, nodding.

Morgana rushed inside, taking her phone, her car keys and her purse and throwing it over her shoulder, "Wait a second, I'm coming with you, okay? We're going to report her disappearance, Valerie stay here, I'm going to call Su-Wei and make sure you stay put, alright? Or you're grounded, Elias, you're coming with me!" Merlin furrowed his eyebrows, but he had no chance to question the change of name before he was pulled by Morgana.

Valerie froze for a second, "To the police station?" Valerie questioned

"Yes," Morgana said.

Valerie shook her head, grabbing her aunt's hand to stop her, "No, you guys have to go to the lake, she must be there! That's the last place I saw her,"

Morgana looked in between the girl and the woman waiting at the door, "Valerie..."

"Come on, you know I'm right," Valerie insisted, her eyes turning to Merlin as last desperate measure, "Merlin?"

"We'll help in any way we can," Merlin turned to Audrey's mother. Valerie furrowed her eyebrows, rushing to her bedroom, the closing door resonating in everyone's ears.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was already night by the time they left the car at Morgana and Valerie's house and re-appeared in the same lake they had visited the day before. The crickets and fireflies were far and in between. It didn't feel like there was a single person around, Merlin conjured a small orb of light to be ahead of them and serve as a remedy against the dark night. The moon reflected on the waters.

Morgana spoke as soon as they appeared in the lake, "I'm surprised you actually agreed to follow Valerie's request," she looked around.

Merlin shrugged, "She's a queen after all, a young, inexperienced, titleless, queen, but the potential is still there," Morgana smiled with amusement, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaving a kiss in his cheek.

"It's my turn this time," Morgana mumbled.

The sound of the crickets came to a halt as she knelt on the floor, taking a deep breath. Both of her hands touched the point between the grass and the rocks that led to the lake, her eyes glowing for a couple minutes. She frowned.

"What do you feel?" Merlin questioned, looking over her when she sat straight, eyes back to their natural blue.

"Magic was used, that much is obvious, but the trace is a bit vague, since it was used yesterday. It might still be your magic, but I don't feel its inherent rottenness, so it's probably someone else's" Morgana explained, turning to Merlin.

Merlin rose an eyebrow, his face with an unusual seriousness in it, "Like who?"

"Have you talked to..."

"No," he was quick to answer, this time, it was Morgana who rose an eyebrow, eyes shifting to the lake before she felt him leave a kiss on her forehead that gave her a warm feeling.

"This is where she lives, isn't it? Why don't you try to talk to her?"

He sighed, "We didn't exactly left things off on the best note," Merlin shrugged, "Not to mention, nothing was more insulting to her of being accused of something she didn't do, the mere implication that she might somehow be related to it could make her blood boil, and she could make my blood boil in a more literal sense, I don't think we're in the position to add an angry goddess to our list of potential threats," Merlin explained.

"I suppose you might have a point,"

"Why don't you ask her? You two got along, right?" Merlin suggested, Morgana's mouth turned into a line. Her eyes opening wide and she sighed.

"I haven't spoken to her in nearly seventeen years, but I suppose trying can't hurt."

Morgana pressed a hand against the water. Eyes glowing and her mouth moving as if she was speaking. Merlin couldn't hear what she was saying, he stood in the same place, glancing at the lake every once in a while, to see if anyone came out.

"I suppose she's not in the mood for a visit," Morgana gave up after a few minutes realizing she would get no response.

They remained in silent for a few seconds, trying to ponder on other options as to why the kids had disappeared, even if none of them felt right o like it made sense in Morgana's mind.

"Kids don't run away these days?" Merlin tried, already trying to find a more human solution to the matter in front of them. Morgana shook her head.

"Sometimes" Morgana said, "but not these ones, Audrey is usually very calm and wouldn't run away, the same goes for Gabriel, he's a very nice kid, their parents aren't an issue either, Audrey's mother can be a bit hypochondriac but never anything excessive and even if Gabriel wanted to see his mother he would have to wait a couple of days before his father took him to the airport."

Merlin nodded; eyebrows knit together as he glanced at the lake.

"You've been acting strange lately," Morgana rose an eyebrow in his direction. Merlin's eyes turned to her.

"You're saying I have a regular behavior?" he rose a curious eyebrow, Morgana smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Of course you do, you eat, read, complain about what you can find, and ask a lot of questions about the television and how every bit of technology works" Merlin scoffed slightly. It sounded more like if he was suppressing a laugh.

"What can I say? those kids are annoying; most people usually are. I'm still concerned about their disappearance"

"Let's go home" Morgana spoke, "We have to find other places to keep looking" Merlin nodded, turning to the lake one last time before they disappeared into the night.

A.N

Thank you so much everyone who is reading my story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did, please consider leaving a comment or a note. Have a lovely day!