There was a sound of metal falling to the floor. The clink sounded almost like a bell, serving as a sentence to end the silence that had fallen in the cave. Valerie's eyes were focused on the man who had knelt in front of her in solemnity, his eyes on the ground, her eyes darted around the cave.

"You must be mistaken" Audrey was the first to say, stepping as soon as she noticed Valerie's eyes. "I know Valerie since I was eight, if she was of royalty, she would have told me. We tell each other everything!" Her voice hesitated for a second, when she looked at Gabriel, who couldn't find any proper words to say.

Jonathan joined Audrey, trying to bring any sense in an otherwise ridiculous situation "Why should we believe you? We do not know you"

After the initial shock had passed Valerie moved her eyes to look at the man who denied her friends the right to a response. He was still kneeling on the floor, eyes focused on the ground, she found surprising that he remained unmovable. She knelt to his height, picking the fallen sword from the floor extending it to him by the handle waiting until he lifted his eyes to look into hers.

"I'm afraid they are right" Valerie affirmed, her voice calm and certain "We do not know who you are, and if this is a prank, I suggest you to stop because no one is falling for it. If you need help finding your home we could help when the rain stops, but whoever you are looking for, I am not that person" She extended the sword to him, with the delicacy such piece of work deserved, he placed his hand above hers not to retreat the sword, instead to prevent her from handing it to him the metal remained between them.

"People know me as Merlin." He spoke, there was no visible reaction from the teenagers who wanted to hear the conversation "I do not understand, the maiden told me you were the one to pull out the sword"

"I was, yes." Valerie admitted, sighing "But it was already loose because my friends had tried to pull it out before me"

"Your majesty" The man spoke firm, lips pursued and eyebrows slightly furrowed, it no longer sounded like a reverence but more of the voice of someone scolding a child "Someone who I knew and trusted a long time ago left that sword there for a reason, and that reason was that you found it, which you did. I'm only telling you the truth, and with utmost honesty I assure you, those three could have tried over a thousand times and none of them would have succeeded in their lifetime"

Gabriel was about to say something, Audrey put one hand over his chest shaking her head, putting a finger above her lips.

"Even if what you say is true, I am not of the royal family I am many things, but the one you're looking for is not one of them" Valerie raised her head, chin up to look the man in the eye. Jonathan slowly walked to her side, the sword remained on Valerie's hand. Merlin stood up from the floor letting go of the sword taking a step back and raising an eyebrow looking at the teenagers standing side by side. Jonathan stood up straight when he felt Merlin's eyes over him, his shoulders tensed.

"You say you are not a born queen. If that was the case, pray tell why does the wizard appear to be so eager to protect you, and the maiden is about to hit me with the light on her hand?"

Gabriel tried giving a step forward "Look man, there is no..."

Audrey was frozen before she could land the blow, her eyes moved, yet the rest of her body held the lamp high as stiff as a statue, Merlin moved out of the way and with a snap of his fingers Audrey was able to lower her hands, her eyes wide staring at the man in front of her lines formed above her eyebrows and her mouth opened but no words came out. Then, he held his hand up against, Valerie and Jonathan an orb of light forming on it, Valerie waited for the impact to come, closing her eyes tight and raising the sword high, she felt a hand moving her out of way and she fell backwards, ending up sitting on the floor.

Jonathan stood in front of her, hands up as if catching a ball, shiny corners in front of them, that resembled the shape of a diamond large enough to cover them both. Jonathan's eyes were wide open when he let his hands down and the shield that had protected them was gone as fast as it had appeared when he jumped in front of Valerie. Merlin smiled, raising his shin up, as to look to the teenagers.

"Now do you believe me, your majesty?"

Valerie's eyes were wide open when she stared at Jonathan, who with eyebrows raised stared at his own hands and tried to recreate the same reaction to no avail. He looked at her, eyes wide open, and she was able to notice how his hands were trembling and his chest raised up and down as his breathing became unsteady. Valerie stood up and placed one hand over his shoulder, slowly his breathing became steady and the trembling less noticeble, as he looked at Merlin, eyebrows furrowed.

"Your magic is still on the intuitive phase due to lack of training I presume. For I can sense, you have great powers" Merlin's mouth turned into a straight line, and with eyebrows raised he walked closer to Jonathan who squinted his eyes at him and leaned back "Your fate is tangled with the queen's, as is all of yours"

Gabriel was now rubbing Audrey's back up and down, the motion didn't stop when Merlin looked at them, and for a split second squinted his nose.

"Then you truly are Merlin, Arthur and the round table's powerful Merlin?" Audrey's voice resonated, she stood up, thanking Gabriel and walked closer to the older man, pointing her lamp to his face, Merlin rolled his eyes and with a movement of his hand small orbs of light lit the cave's roof.

"I thought that was left clear already. I hope picking knights that are not particularly brilliant is not a trait that has been running in the family for who knows how long"

Gabriel interrupted before Audrey could speak, she stood with arms crossed, lips firm on a line. "If you are a powerful wizard, what were you doing there?" Merlin scoffed.

"Morgana thought it would be hilarious to leave me there until someone pulled the sword out. Have any of you seen her? Skin light the night, eyes like sapphire, about this height, probably the origin of evil, you would fight a tournament for her hand probably and she would find delight in the deaths of the knights" Valerie had to stifle a laugh, the description had an odd sense of familiarity to it, yet, she found it impossible for it to be truth, and based by Jonathan's glance she figured he must have been thinking the same thing.

"Sure" Gabriel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm "We of course have seen your friend, a thousand years old witch should be pretty easy to locate. Do you think she has a few wrinkles or is she a walking raisin?"

Merlin turned to the teenage boy, eyebrows furrowed ready to properly answer to his remark. He stopped, turning his eyes to the entrance of the cave, pausing for a moment, a smile lit up his face that was similar to that of a puppy, he then furrowed his eyebrows.

"She is near" He spoke, all eyes turned to the entrance of the cave "She better apologizes, or I make sure the next one locked up is her"

The clicking of a pair of high heels resonated on the as a figure stepped in the inside of the cave, when it stepped above the puddles created by the rain there was a splash of water, but no signs of it in the clothes, like if the water didn't want to touch her. Valerie raised her eyebrows, her hand holding the sword tight.

"You" Merlin's voice resounded, as his fingers pointed at a figure now standing under the orbs of light a sly smile on her face. The figure was all too familiar to all the people present, all eyes focusing on the woman, wide open, their mouths almost unable to mutter any words.

"Shit"

Valerie wanted to say something, but no words came out of her mouth.

"I'll ask you how is it that you are still alive, but I just suppose that you are the living proof that the rotten never die" Merlin walked past the teenagers and stared at the woman up and down, with his arms behind himself. The woman smiled, in a way Valerie had never seen her smile before.

"I should have known you came out of that place" The woman said, eyebrows raised. The voice resounded into the heads of the group of friends while Jonathan questioned how was it that there were no signs of the rain on the woman. "The stench of your magic reached all the way to my house"

"I'm afraid the king never gave me the notice that you would be around, please apologize me Lady Morgana for I must have missed the rotten scent of your powers" The man scrunched his nose, the woman put the hands on her waist, her dark skin glistening, one hand reached the cheek of the wizard giving it a small pat.

"Now, is that the way to greet an old friend? Always the charmer, aren't you Merlin?" The woman leaned her head a little to the front, returning her hand to her waist. Merlin leaned forward as well, his face remaining nearly unfazed if not for the ghost of a smile in the corner of his lips.

"Only with you, Morgana" A small smile escaped the man's lips.

Valerie blinked a couple times to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, however, if the eyes of her friends were anything to go by, she was in the right. The woman now facing Merlin had her hair proudly showing her natural curls and wearing the same clothes she was when Valerie left the house. Taking a deep breath, Valerie gathered the courage to ask.

"Aunt Moira?"

A.N.
Hello everyone! If you like this chapter please consider leaving a vote or a comment, and tell me if there was anything you liked, thank you so much for stopping by and have a lovely day!