The Witch and the Warlock

[Chapter Six]

Where is Arthur?

Merlin had been riding his horse for three hours now, he hadn't said a single word to Morgana since they set off. Merlin was worried that if he wasn't careful, he could end up getting Morgana and himself captured too.

"Merlin, are you alright?" Morgana asked, realizing the silence that had overcome them. When Merlin didn't answer, she kicked her horse and rode in front of Merlin.

He looked at her, trying to go around her, this was wasting time. When she completely stopped her horse, he groaned, knowing that he would end up having to talk no matter what he wanted.

"I'm fine Morgana, just... Worried about Arthur's safety... that's all." He spoke, not making eye contact with her.

"Look at me Merlin, please."

He looked up at her, making eye contact, but his eyes didn't sparkle like they normally did, he was truly worried about what could happen to them if they didn't find Arthur soon.

"We're losing time, Morgana, we need to keep moving, for Arthur's sake as much as ours." He backed his horse up and rode around her.

"Our sake?" Morgana turned her horse and rode next to him. "Is there something else you're worried about?" Merlin just glanced at her. "You're worried about me?" Merlin didn't look at her this time, she already knew his answer. "I can look after myself, Merlin, you know that."

He nodded a little and sighed.

"But that won't stop me from trying my best to protect you." He said, it was supposed to come out as a whisper but was much louder than intended. Morgana smiled a little, she looked at Merlin who was blushing a little.

"You don't have to protect me, you know that right?" Merlin sighed, knowing that Morgana wouldn't let herself seem weak. The silence resumed after this statement, making the tension between the two more visible. They both hated the tension, but couldn't decide what would be a suitable conversation so just kept quiet.

Eventually, Morgana looked at Merlin again, desperate to make him talk again. Something had been at the back of her mind ever since they kissed and she was curious about what Merlin thought about it.

"Merlin... I've been thinking." Merlin stayed looking ahead, barely paying attention to Morgana and definitely not acknowledging that Morgana had even spoken. "When we kissed, did it mean anything to you? We haven't talked about it." Merlin looked at Morgana through the corner of his eye, not certain on how to talk about this subject.

He had been thinking about the kiss too, yet he had been so overwhelmed with wanting to find Arthur that he had pushed that aside so he could focus on the task at hand. He simply looked back in front of him, contemplating what he should say next.

"I- forget I asked Merlin, seriously, if you don't think it meant anything then it doesn't matter. I understand why you might consider it to be a meaningless kiss." Morgana said, trying to hide the hurt in her voice. She didn't quite understand what she felt for Merlin but she knew that it was more than what it should be. Merlin was her half-brother's servant, he was loyal to Arthur and that is why it couldn't mean anything.

"It did mean something, Morgana, don't go kidding yourself that it didn't. But I'm a servant and you're the King's ward, his daughter. Even if we wanted it to be something, it couldn't be..." Merlin said, reassuring Morgana that he did indeed feel something towards her yet it would be pretty much impossible for it to be accepted. "If either of us were different people then maybe it would have been possible."

They both sighed, wishing that they had a shot together, that life was fair for once. All of a sudden, Merlin's horse threw Merlin to the floor and turned around, galloping back in the direction of Camelot, kicking him in the process. Morgana jumped from her horse and went beside Merlin, and helped him up. Merlin had taken his bandage from his arm when they were preparing to leave Camelot so that he could ride the horse better, but now he was seriously regretting it as his arm started to bleed once again.

Morgana looked around for something to tie around the cut to prevent it from getting worse but couldn't find anything, leaving her feeling defeated.

"How can I help, Merlin?"

"Just help me get up then we can use your horse to find Arthur on." He said, trying to get up but just wincing in pain.

Morgana helped him to his feet, pulling him close by accident, their faces were close together. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, Morgana leaned in but Merlin leaned back and walked to the horse.

Feeling embarrassed, Morgana followed Merlin to the horse. They climbed onto the horse in silence, Merlin felt bad for rejecting Morgana as they both knew that it wasn't going to be easy if they had kissed again.

Merlin looked at Morgana, apologizing in the way he looked at her. She sighed.

"We wouldn't work, so that was probably for the best, it's okay Merlin, you were just looking out for us..." She whispered, kicking the horse gently, causing it to gallop forwards.

"But it still hurt your feelings, Morgana, so I am sorry."

"Sometimes you have to hurt someone's feelings for their own good." After this, silence fell once again, but this time it was more comfortable, they had spoken about their feelings and had come to a mutual understanding of their situation.

Merlin rested his head on Morgana's shoulder, trying to overcome the pain that was coming from his arm. At first she tensed up, but realised that he was in pain and relaxed herself, smiling slightly at how comfortable he became.

Night had started to fall, and soon the woods would become an entirely different place. They had to set up camp soon, or they would into contact with groups of Bandit's who were not particularly friendly.

That's exactly what they did, they started a small fire and sat around it. They made their beds for the night and ate some food, made by Merlin.

Everything was going to plan, untill someone came behind Morgana and dragged her to her feet, holding a knife to her neck.

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1067 words
I have been working on this chapter all day as my urge to write is finally being recovered. My initial thoughts for this chapter was that Merlin and Morgana would speak about their feelings, which happened then they would find Arthur. But then as the day has gone on, I wrote more about them talking about their feelings so I never actually got to make them find Arthur. If you liked this chapter then vote for it and follow me if you don't already.

- Ruth