The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

Anything But the Windows S2 E11

One of the hardest things about being in the situation that I am in is that you are being pulled in two different ways; your brain tells you that you should stay firm and not give in but your heart tells you to forgive and move on. I had no clue of what I should do with Merlin. Gods, I hated being wrong.

Ever since Louis had left Camelot and I had been brought back from being in enchanted, the pull of my heart was constantly overpowering the pull from my mind in my decision. Almost losing everything that I had with Merlin because of Alined had done one thing to me, it had showed me how much I needed Merlin and how much he needed me. So where do we go from here?

"You were there, weren't you? The night that she died," Merlin said.

"I was there," I confirmed, staring straight into the flames of the fire in front of us.

"Why did you save her after what you thought we did to you?" Merlin asked.

"Because even then I think I knew that I was just being paranoid and I wasn't going to let her be humiliated in death by my father. Everyone deserves dignity in death, Merlin. I'm not that much of a monster to let her die that way," I said.

"You're not a monster, Chelsea," Merlin countered, making me look over at him.

"Am I not?" I challenged. "Don't you remember the fact that I almost went to my father of all people? All because I was mad at you over a stupid argument! You asked me to not take my anger out on her and I didn't listen to you."

"And that is not your fault. It's my fault for giving you anything to doubt and worry about," Merlin said.

"Maybe. Maybe not," I muttered, turning away from him.

"I never meant to give you reason to doubt me. And I most certainly never meant to hurt you with the whole Leon thing. I was just paranoid about seeing you and Leon together and seeing you so happy with him. I'm sorry for what I implied. I was an idiot."

"You can say that again," I muttered with a weak smile, feeling an immense amount of relief that it wasn't just my fault.

"And again and again and again," Merlin added on. He gave a small smile before he looked back up at me with eyes clouded with guilt. "So what do you say we put this all behind us, yeah,"

Once again I fell silent and the internal battle of my brain and my heart commenced as I tried to decide what to say to him. The stubbornness inside of me was having a marginally stronger pull until I made eye contact with the blue eyes that I had fallen for so long ago.

I lifted my hand and brushed away a lock of Merlin's dark hair that had fallen in front of his face. Instantly at my touch, Merlin's eyes fluttered shut and he leant into my hand.

"Merlin?" I said quietly, making him open his eyes that were now shining with hope. "Don't ever let me make a big deal out of something like this again."

"Never again," Merlin assured me, gently grabbing onto my hand, and placing a small kiss on the back of it.

I went to say something more but Merlin suddenly jumped up onto his feet, holding onto his head tightly.

"Merlin? Are you alright?" I asked, getting onto my own feet.

"Mordred," Merlin muttered.

"What?" I said.

"Mordred's here," Merlin elaborated. "I can hear him."

"But why would Mordred come back to Camelot?" I asked.

"I don't know. But I guess we had better find out," Merlin said.

He held out a hand for me to take, which with a smile, I was finally happy to do. Hand in hand, we ran out of my room, not worrying about being caught due to the fact everyone else would most likely be asleep. We were just walking down one of the corridors when Merlin let go of my hand, clutching at his had again.