Morgana told me where we were going so that I could go another way in secret. Since it was still light out, I had to be careful. I don't think either one of us was ready to announce my presence to the world. After all, it's been months since I've been around other people. I almost forgot how to act correctly.
When I'm with Morgana, I could act any way I wish. Same with her when she's with me. This is probably the main reason why we enjoy each others company so much. We live in our own little bubble away from society. Together we don't worry about what anyone else may think, and with the mutual respect and somewhat trust we've gained throughout our troubles, we're more comfortable when it's just us.
However, while it was normal to banter and share mutual respect with Arthur in public, doing so with Morgana would be considered scandalous in a way. We were afraid of the rumors that would spread. We were afraid Morgana's morals would be questioned. She's come a long way from her darkness. For her to be pushed back all because of our way of being around each other would cause not only her so much pain but me as well.
This is why I never argue with her when she tells me to go somewhere in secret.
I met up with her in her favorite tower where she practices most of her magic. No one dares to bother her when she's in this room. Everyone knows that when she's practicing magic alone in here, to leave her alone. We're actually in here alone a lot of the time.
One time, we were almost found out by a serving girl. She was out searching for her boss apparently and stumbled into this room while Morgana was learning a new spell. I was off to the side making sure nothing went wrong when I saw the movement out the windows. I quickly hid behind one of the curtains before she walked in.
Morgana seeing this, turned around to face the young girl. Let's just say that Morgana wasn't in the mood to play nice that day. The serving girl apologized before running out as fast as she could. I scowled Morgana when I reappeared from the curtain. She shrugged and sighed before ending her practice for the day. Morgana claimed that she could have seen me and spread it around in gossip.
From that day on, no one dares come up to this room, afraid of receiving her wrath.
Morgana was running around the room searching through bookshelves. I watched until she found the book she was looking for. Searching the pages, she stopped in the middle. A smile escaped her lips. She walked up to me and looked up into my eyes.
"This is it," she told me. I scrunched my brows together in confusion as I stepped forward and reached for the book. She gave it to me so I could read the pages.
Finding What Your Heart Yearns For
It was a spell that could possibly help, but there was only one problem.
"How do you know that it's the dragons that your heart truly yearns for? It could be something that even you're not aware of yet," I explained.
"Because Merlin, what else could I possibly desire more than to set dragons free in the land of Camelot? All I've ever wanted was for magic and magical creatures to be treated fairly. After what Uther's done, I wish to change the kingdoms way of thinking. I just want them to see that these creatures aren't as bad as one may think. Just as magic and its followers aren't as bad."
"I know, but what if–"
"No what ifs, Merlin! It's the only shot we've got unless you have something up your sleeve that you're not telling me?" She crossed her arms and looked at me expectingly.
I let a small smile fall upon my lips, "I guess you're right. What harm could it do to try?"
"Exactly," Morgana grabbed the book from my hands. "Do you mind grabbing me what we need? Great. All we need is a feather from a dove, sand from the southern shores, and a talisman."
"A talisman? Like what?" I questioned searching around.
"I'm not sure. It just says it'll show us the way," she replied. I went to reach for a small symbol on her altar, but Morgana shouted "not that one!" The same thing happened when I went for another one, and then, another one. So, I picked up one of her crystals and clutched it in my hands. I felt the crystal heat up between my fingers until it flattened in my palm.
"How's this?" I asked as I brought it over to her. She took it from my hands.
"It's perfect," she stated. Her finger traced the outline of the circle.
She threw everything into the bowl in the middle of the room. Reading through the pages of the book, she began to recite the spell. When nothing happened, she picked up the crystal and inspected it. Shaking her head, she put the talisman back in the bowl and tried again. Nothing happened.
I could tell she was beginning to get frustrated, so I took the book from her before she had time to react. I read over the pages.
"Merlin–" she was about to start cursing me for taking the book, but I put my hand up.
"You forgot an ingredient, Morgana," I explained.
She sighed and looked down, "I was hoping I wouldn't need it. Some spells still work even if you skip an ingredient."
"Sure, but most spells don't," I argued, "and blood spells most definitely won't work if you skip something... Like the blood!"
"It calls for blood from someone I deeply care about," she explained. "How the hell am I supposed to know who that is. Not to mention ask them?"
"Well, who do you care about?" I asked. She looked up wide eyed. She seemed to be wondering why I even asked. "Do you want my advice or not? Who do you care about? I mean you do care about someone?"
"Of course I do, Merlin. What kind of question is that?" her voice cracked slightly before she caught herself.
"Well, then, who is it?"
"Well," she spoke back, "it's a number of people. I care for the people of Camelot–"
"I don't believe they actually count, Morgana," I rolled my eyes.
"I care about Gwen, but I'm still walking around egg shells with her. I could never ask her for such a thing."
"Is there anyone else that you care about? Perhaps they'll be more willing?"
She looked down as if she was ashamed of the answer. "Well," she started, "I care about you. I mean despite our differences, you've always been my friend. Even before everything... transpired."
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Of course I knew she had some care for me, but to have her admit it out loud was truly shocking to me. Arthur would never do such a thing.
I gathered my thoughts in order for me to actually form words as a reply, "okay." Seriously, Merlin?
"Okay?" she questioned. "Okay what?"
"Okay, I was not really expecting that, but to keep things moving forward," I grabbed a knife from her altar and walked over to the bowl. My blood fell onto the talisman.
I stepped back to allow Morgana to finish her spell. She recited the words again. This time my blood absorbed into the crystal right before a small flame burst to life in the bowl. Once it died down, Morgana picked up the talisman and smiled. She turned to me and her smile grew more.
"It worked." I smiled back as she stood up to grab some material to wrap the talisman into a necklace in which she placed around her neck. "I can feel it pulling me in so many directions. If I focus, I'm able to find one path, and then, another." There was a pause between us as I let her process and figure out where she wished to go first. "I'm going to set up a group, and we're going to search for where ever this talisman is taking us. I'll have to make some arrangements, first. I can't just let Camelot fend for itself," she muttered on before catching my eyes, "you should probably go pack, Merlin. We leave in the morning."
With that said, I left. I walked down the stairs and down the side of the castle walls. People were moving about above me, so I tried my best to keep hidden. Unfortunately, it didn't work well enough. After all, I'm never really out at this time of day. I wasn't aware of the amount of people that could possibly catch me walking about.
I felt the eyes staring in the back of my neck. I knew I was caught. Turning around, I stopped in my tracks. Staring down at me from above was none other than Gwen.
She was wearing her maid uniform and carrying a basket at her side. Her hand rested on top of the balustrade as she stared down. At first, she looked confused and shocked to see me. Then, her face went blank, void of all emotion. She walked away.
All I could do after that was walk away, too.
The only thought that entered my mind as I got further and further away from the crowd was what's going to happen now?