The Lost Princess of Grerin || A Merlin AU

IX. Epiphany

~~~

Ryia looked around as she woke up. There was an arm around her that was connected to none other than Morgana herself. Both girls still happened to be naked. "So that really did happen," Ryia mumbled to her self as she quickly and quietly got out of bed and got dressed. She looked out the window to see that it was still dark out. The girl gave one more glance to Morgana before walking out of the room.

"What are you doing leaving Morgana's chambers?" Arthur asked suspiciously as he looks at the girl who jumped when he spoke, "and why are you wearing your day clothes from yesterday?"

"Arthur!" Ryia said in a panic, not expecting to have been caught, "I was hanging with Morgana and we ended up falling asleep, nothing uh weird happened."

Arthur narrowed his eyebrows as he looks at her, "right."

"Wait why are you up in the middle of the night?" Ryia questions as she realized he was also suspicious in the moment.

"I was having trouble sleeping and decided to take a walk," Arthur told her, his tone was a bit cold.

"I should probably leave you to that then," Ryia said, going to walk off but Arthur spoke up again.

"What were you and Morgana doing?" Arthur asked with a raised brow.

Ryia turned back to face him, "she was uh," she paused for a second to think of a lie, "giving me tips for the ball. You know what to wear, how to do my hair, and other things like that."

"You hesitated a bit," Arthur pointed out.

"Well yeah," Ryia states as she crosses her arms, "I didn't really want to tell you because you already think less of me just because I am a girl, I fear if I feminize myself it will get worse."

"I don't think less of you because you are a girl Ryia," Arthur told her seriously.

"Really? Because yesterday you told me that the knights practice was no place for a woman," Ryia pointed out with a raised brow.

"I-" Arthur starts but stops himself, "I should go back to bed."

"Right," Ryia says with a sigh as she watches the prince leave before walking to her own chambers.

~~~

"Gaius," Ryia whined, dragging out the name as she walked into Gaius room, "it's been a few days and my magic is still barely working. Make it go quicker," she whined to him as she sat on the table and slumped down.

Merlin just let out a small laugh as he watched the girl as Gaius spoke up, "Ryia it takes patience, show me what you can do right now," he tells her as he places a feather on the table next to her, "try and make it float."

Ryia nods as she puts her hand up, her eyes turning yellow as the feather shakily floats for a few seconds before falling down and her eyes return to their natural color, "see!"

"Interesting," Gaius says as he looks at her, "your magic should be coming back already, yet you haven't made any progress."

"Does that mean it might never come back?" Ryia asked worriedly as she looked at Gaius.

"I fear that is a possibility," Gaius informs her sadly.

"But you said it would come back?" Ryia questioned, a little panicked over losing her magic.

"I believed it would," Gaius tells her as he thinks, "perhaps there is something else blocking your magic?"

"What do you mean something else? Like someone draining it?" Ryia questions with a raised brow.

"That's a possibility," Gaius tells her, "but sometimes magic can stop working due to mental blocks."

"Mental blocks?" Ryia questioned, "what do you mean by that?"

"Is there anything going on in your life that has impacted your feelings in a negative way?" Gaius asked her.

"I mean there is everything with my grandfather being horrible and Arthur suddenly being a bigger dick and then Gwaine," Ryia trailed off at the end, not wanting to finish her thoughts.

"What happened with Gwaine?" Merlin asked concern as Ryia turns to him.

"Nothing bad, we just," Ryia pauses as she sighs, "we had something going but we had to realize it wouldn't work since I am supposed to marry either Arthur or the other prince."

"Ryia you are going through a lot right now," Gaius explains, causing Ryia to turn her attention back to him, "your magic may be affected by that."

"You mean I'm the reason they aren't working?" Ryia questions.

"It's a very high possibility," Gaius tells her genuinely.

"How do I fix it?" Ryia asked.

"You need to work on regulating your emotions," Gaius explained, "and maybe find someone you can talk to about all of this. Don't bottle up what you are feeling."

"Ryia if you ever need to talk I will listen," Merlin spoke up, making the girl look at him once more.

"Thank you," Ryia told him with a smile, "it really means a lot."

~~~

As Ryia was leaving Gaius's room she ran into someone, "I'm so sorry, oh it's you."

"Is that you taking back your apologies?" Arthur asked as he looked at the girl.

"No, I'm sorry," Ryia told him again as she sighed, "I'm just going through a lot right now."

"Like what?" Arthur asked as he rose a brow while crossing his arms.

"If you must know, there is the fact I am supposed to be some perfect lady even though I literally grew up in the woods and know nothing about being noble," Ryia stated in a rabble, "then theres the fact my grandfather is a dick but if I call him out I could lose my head then theres the fact you barely like me and we might have to get married, and Gwaine basically broke up with me yesterday. Oh and the fact that my magic not working might be my fault."

"What do you mean your fault?" Arthur asked curiously, having listened to her rant and choosing to only comment on that part.

"Gaius said it might because I have so much negative things happening in my life right now," Ryia explained before remembering who she was talking to, "I actually don't know why I'm telling you all this, I'm going to go."

"Right, bye," Arthur says with a sigh as he watches her leave.

~~~

"You seem to really enjoy the garden?" Morgana says as she sits next to Ryia.

"Nature helps me stay grounded," Ryia explains as she looks at Morgana, "listen Morgana about yesterday-"

"I get it, it was a one time thing," Morgana says, cutting her off, "we were both being vulnerable and one thing led to another. I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," Ryia said with a smile, "I did mean what I said yesterday though, I do want to get close to you. Just not in that way. Don't get me wrong it was fun and exciting it's just-"

"The fact you may marry Arthur and that there are things between you and Gwaine," Morgana stated, cutting her off again. Ryia looked at her a bit concerned as she mentioned the things with Gwaine, "I have eyes Ryia, you two aren't as secretive as you think."

"I can hope no one noticed," Ryia says half jokingly.

"It's okay, I don't think Uther has and I can keep a secret," Morgana told her, smiling.

~~~