Chapter 22 ~ Emotion.

---

Another month has passed for Karil, Maurelle and the rest of the world. Christmas Eve and Karil was sat by the fire in the common room laughing and joking with Ly. Maurelle was sat in the corner of, watching him. Mirror was hidden at the ruined cottage in the forest. And Merlin was inspecting his face in the reflection of the lake. 

Karil was no longer shocked by Maurelle's emotional transformation, instead he had avoided her for that past month and simply planned every way he and Ly were going to stop her. He was no more confident, and though his usual self on the outside, was scarred not only on the exterior but in his soul. He felt no anger towards the girl, only sorrow and regret. He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. She looked so innocent. He wondered what people would think about her if they knew what he knew.

Ly was not so jokey, though currently humorous by the common room fire. The pressure of not being able to tell anyone comes with results, and his cheery nature was not so prominent. Still, there is a sense of pride there, regarding his and Karil's plans to stop the ''M takeover'', they're name for Maurelle and Mirror's plans. So far there had been no reports from the ministry, and there was hope the ''M'''s were failing. And nothing has happened to Mcgongall, though through anonymous circumstances they had managed to warn the headmistress and she seemed to have taken it to heart.

Maurelle? No more had been revealed of what her true nature might be, whether the villainy is natural. But by the looks of it, it was. She had made no effort to speak to Karil or Ly either, and her night meetings with Mirror were prequent. She was sketching with her quill then quite, sketching Karil's face. The strange slash down his cheek had become the center of the drawing, purposefully or not, it was hard to tell. 

Mirror was pleased. The boys were wrong, everything was going smoothly to plan - except the matter of Mcgonagall. Maurelle had refused to talk about the headmistress and the accident that was meant to occur involving the woman, but Maurelle still hadn't done anything and they were running out of time. Still, the headmistress hadn't actually found out anything and those two boys weren't in the way any more. Yes, Mirror was very happy.

Merlin also felt joy, for his appearance was now that of a young man and Arthur was nearly human again, the other knights not far behind. But there was dread in the wizard's heart also; dread and anticipation of what was heading for him and plotting takeover of the wizarding world. He knew of Maurelle Pendragon, but what was planning the attack on Albion that had caused Arthur and his Knights to rise? He frowned. Could a sixteen-year-old hold such a threat? But she must have magic. Like her Mother. 

Merlin sighed as the memories of Morgana came flooding back, filled with joy, confusion, sadness, anger. She had gone from being one of his greatest, most trusted friends to his twisted enemy. Despite what she had done to Arthur, he felt sadness towards her death by his hands. Deep in his heart, Merlin didn't know whether he could harm her daughter.