And not the sort you hear in ghost stories, actual ghosts, according to Gaius the veil between our world and the next has been torn and now beings from the afterlife are coming through and... freezing people to death.

I don't understand it either, but it's not just Gaius's word (although I have no reason to doubt it), first there was the girl from the village of Whitevale, Drea who saw them kill all she knew with her own eyes and then what I saw with the knights and Merlin just last night in the very same village.

The situation is getting worse, apparently the veil is centred on the Isle of the Blessed - which I always thought was a fairytale told to small children, but no, it's real. The creatures from the afterlife are coming from there and spreading out further and further. They will soon reach Camelot.

That is, if no-one stops them.

Which, of course, I won't allow.

I swore to protect the people of Camelot with my life and since the only way to close the veil is to go to the Isle and sacrifice a life, that is what I will do.

Father is in no fit state to rule, of course, but I'm sure...somehow...he'll find the strength he once had to rule over his people once more. And if not...Uncle will help him.

My only regret is leaving my fellow knights, and Guinevere...and even Merlin. He was a good friend...horrible servant, but good friend.

I suppose this is goodbye book. Try not to make anyone else's life as confusing as you made mine.

And lastly... why an an apple?

This has been the best day I've had since Guinevere's birthday (for obvious reasons) and it's all thanks to training. There's nothing like getting your aggression out on your fellow knights or the practice dummy.

Unfortunately for me, Council Meetings are back in session tomorrow, honestly, is having more than a one day break too much to ask? It's enough to make me wish I was a horse again.

Actually, no, it's not. That was a dumb thing to write. The last thing I need is any kind of sorcery.

Unfortunately for the Council Meetings are beginning early tomorrow morning so now I have to sleep unless I want to sleep through them, which frankly I wouldn't mind doing, but Monmouth would never stand for it.

He's an ogre, really.

So a few days ago I was suffering through a meeting with Monmouth when lo and behold a cat showed up. A cat in the middle of the Council room, with the doors closed. Honestly, the guards are still pathetic.

Anyway, it was a very odd cat, very uppity - why would people even want to keep cats I don't know, this one was pretty much trying to order me around. This most embarrassing thing is, I sort of let it. At least until I came to my senses.

Although, I'd like to know where that cat went and who owns it. There was something decidedly strange about it and I'm finding the whole thing suspicious. God knows what sorcery might be capable of...that cat could be some sort of spy, especially since Percival saw Morgana in the forest. I'm sure she'd want to spy on us, plan her next move, whatever that might be.

However, I'm not yet to ask the knights to be on the look out for a cat with golden fur, apart from anything else I'll never hear the end of it from Gwaine.

And for now, I'd like to avoid that.

I sincerely doubt it, this morning I ran into Gwaine, who was having a very strange problem. Privately it was a rather fitting problem and even rather amusing although the sorcery behind it is far from benign I'm sure.

After dealing with Gwaine, Percival returned from patrol with news that he had apparently seen Morgana in the woods close to Leon's childhood home. Being only one man he could hardly attempt a capture, honestly I'm surprised he managed to escape! Apparently Morgana was speaking to a child, I pray she's not planning on doing something horrible to him. After getting this news, the knights and I (sans Gwaine) went to track her down, but she had, of course disappeared. As had the child...I hope he's all right.

We're no closer to knowing where Morgana is hiding out and considering how quickly she disappeared after Morgause's army was destroyed she seems more than capable of moving very quickly. So how are we supposed to track her down?

We need to find her and...well I don't know, but not knowing is dangerous...we never know when she'll strike.

Damnit...

It's been a day of both.

Firstly, the weather broke overnight so the knights were finally able to train. God forbid we end up getting rusty!

Nothing quite like a training session, or the Gwaine-encouraged sheninigans that followed, which mostly involved trying to throw each other in the river. I'm pretty sure I managed to win, of course.

Unfortunately, the fun couldn't last and I found myself sitting on another Council Meeting. The Councillers are getting restless about Father's condition. They grilled Gaius unmercifully, not that it's helped much. Father is the same, neither here nor there...

It was enough to make me talk to myself, or at least I thought I was alone. Typical of events these days, I wasn't. I suppose at a time like this I could use advice...from any quarter.

But it's beginning to look more and more likely that Father will remain in the fuge...and that offical steps will have to be taken.

And I don't want official steps to be taken...

Ah, a day very well spent indeed.

Although, I could do without Gwaine taking me down! He using dirty tactics, I mean tripping? That's just...that's certainly not in the Knight's Code. And we were training by knight's rules, a tournament is coming up soon. And it's not a melee.

Right, there's going to be more training tomorrow so I'll be off now, I've got to be sharp and ready for anything. Not that I'm not usually, but just to ensure I'll be even more at the top of my game!

Which would explain why I've had so much trouble finding her these past few days, despite Merlin giving me her schedule (with Morgana...gone she doesn't really have an offical post in the castle, which makes it hard to know where she'll pop up next). Today I finally had success, I thought we could have some strawberries together - especially after what I went through to get hold of them.

However, I found her on the verge of collaspe! I hope it's nothing serious, she said it wasn't bad enough to get Gaius involved, but I'm not sure...I'm thinking of sending him a message to go and see her tomorrow morning.

Gaius has been coming to my rescue a lot lately, I certainly haven't had to put up with Monmouth so much. It's a wonder he hasn't recieved any honours...not that I can actually think of any appropriate to give him. And of course, in order to find out if there are ones I'd have to...

Ask Monmouth.

I think I'll avoid that for a while.

Tomorrow is intensive training with the knights! I'm looking forward to it - as I'm sure they are. I have a good feelin about this.

As lon as Guinevere gets well soon...

I'm think I may have figured out why Father was always so quick to send me out into the forest to hunt down...whatever, there's enchantments at work out there and I keep falling under them!

Yesterday's one was particularly cruel and unusual.

Singing...

I've had rhyming, I've had that strange accent, but never have I had to deal with singing everything.

The only piece of luck? It seemed to affect everyone, so at least I didn't need to suffer by myself this time.

Thank God it wore off before we all arrived back in Camelot, because I have no idea how we would have explained ourselves.

But, I really must remember...Gwaine has quite a high range.

Apart from only being able to sing, I had a dream a few nights, a very bizarre dream... I saw Morgana, which I suppose isn't that unusual, but she...well...it seemed different, like it was actually her.

But that's ridiculous. Impossible.

Still...there's things from that dream that make me think...

I need to speak to Guinevere tomorrow. It's been two days since I've seen her after all!

There's still training of course!

Of course, I do think of the new knights - I ran into Lancelot today, he seemed a bit...distracted...I was worried that the noble knights might have been causing trouble. But no, it was something else entirely. Although, it was not entirely a relief.

Anyway, training! Thank God for training! Nothing like duels or taking the head off a dummy - especially after hours of Council Meetings. It's also good for taking my mind off Father, who's returned to his stupour according to Gaius, which just makes me feel guilty...

I'm no good at all this 'thinking', it just makes me feel worse. I suppose I could go out and torture the practice dummy some more, but I'm sure Monmouth will insist I be up at a ridiculous hour, so I best be prepared.

And if he doesn't, I'm sure Merlin will wake me.

It's brilliant! Especially with the nee knights, yes, even Gwaine, show off that he is.

And I do believe I spied Guinevere watching and I'm always at my best when she is. I didn't get a chance to speak to her however, which was more than a little unfortunate.

As per the treaty with Caerleon we'll be sending some spies into Cenred to see what's going on. Aside from scattered reports on turmoil going on we don't know much. Hopefully, the spy mission will be successful and by this time next week we'll have more information.

And then, we'll hopefully know what to do...or rather I'll know what to do. Everyone seems to look to me now a days...it makes life difficult and tense.

So, it better be good news...

My great plan to escape today's council meeting failed completely.

So it was yet another day of having my ear talked off.

I understand the need to negoiate but we've hardly got a word in edgewise! I don't know exactly what's wrong with this emissary, I can only assume he's never been able to speak before and now it's his big chance.

At least Merlin was decent enough to join me in my suffering. Which, you know, is really quite good of him.

Fortunately, I'm going to be able to train with the knights tomorrow, apparently the emissary wants to send a message to his King about how things are going thus far. I certainly hope he won't need a cart to carry the document!

Now, I'm going to enjoy some mead and fresh fruit. I've earned it!

My ears are killing me...that Emissary can talk!

I'm dreading tomorrow, because I'm quite sure he and Monmouth are going to engage in a talking match...

We may be in the council room for DAYS if that's the case.

I'm considering setting something up with Merlin and the Knights, some sort of...escape plan. Maybe they can come in and claim there's been some sort of disturbance? Apart from anything else I haven't trained in two days now! I don't want to get rusty.

I didn't even get to see Guinevere today except from a distance, it's cruel to do this to a man.

I'm sending a message to Gwaine, if anyone knows how to get out of difficult situations, he will.

I hope...

Yesterday's speech went surprisingly well...at the end the people where actually cheering my name!

Today went less well, when I received news this morning that Guinevere was in a deep sleep, one that even Gaius couldn't rouse her from. It goes without saying that I had to go to her directly, despite the council meeting. (Why there was even a council meeting today, I don't know, it's Beltane, a time for celebration for God sake!)

We...er...I managed to wake her up and all was well, although I'm sure to get an earful from Monmouth tomorrow, he's going to want to let me know everything I missed...in detail.

The bonfires are still going, in fact, tonight is when the Knights go out amongst the people, enjoy a few mugs of mead and just enjoy ourselves.

Which is I want I'm going to do now! Monmouth be damned!

It's incredible! When the sentry guard came with the news that a man was seen approaching Camelot, a knight, none of us believed it. Certainly we didn't think for a moment it could be Leon.

But it was! Uninjured! Alive!

He had the most incredible story to tell, that he was all but dead when a group of Druids came to his rescue (if I've ever regretted my actions against that group of people...) and nursed him back to health in mere hours with some sort of cup.

Unfortunately, I have no time to celebrate all this with him and the knights, I'm to leave tomorrow at dawn to track down the Druids. Father has ordered me to retrieve the cup that was used to cure Leon, apparently it's known as the Cup of Life and is extraordinarily dangerous. I have to admit I have a little trouble believe that, but according to Father it's been used for all sorts of unspeakable acts and the Druids can't possibly keep it safe.

I mightn't have agreed with him, until Leon mentioned the group had to assist him in sneaking back into Camelot from Cenred's kingdom. I doubt the Druids have any malicious plans, but if Cenred was to get hold of the Cup...It's definitely better off in the vaults of Camelot.

So Merlin and I are off at dawn, we'll go passed Guinevere's house on the way, just so I can say goodbye. Not that I doubt we'll be back, but it's a journey of at least three days I imagine.

Still, I wish I could have had more of a chance to welcome Leon back to the land of living. I can't believe it! Someone is watching out for him.

Sir Leon, Sir Ioan, Sir Edric, Sir Ulof, Sir Robert, Sir Christian, Sir Lloyd and Sir Aldric are dead.

Killed by bandits on Cenred's orders, he sent a message claiming they had incurred on his kingdom's borders. I don't believe it for a moment. It was a deliberate attack, he's trying to goad us into war.

And I'm tempted to allow him.

Fortunately, clearer heads pervail...the Council has advised strongly against such a move. With half the knights gone our army is nowhere near full strength, Cenred no doubt has his ready to fight.

I spent a good portion of the day with Guinevere, which I really think is the only way I managed to get through it all. I've known Leon my entire life, we started our training together. He managed to survive the dragon attack and now he's dead. Killed in such a common way.

I should have been there, with them. Camelot's Knights stand together. I shouldn't have let Father talk me into compromising on these patrols. If it had been a full complement, this wouldn't have happened, I'm sure of it.

Vale brave knights. Vale

Morgana and I had a fight today, which you know, isn't strange, in fact it's normal! But I don't know, she seemed...a little off.

I'm sure I'm just imagining it though, I still have no idea why she's so angry, but I figure I'll steer clear of her a bit, which shouldn't be too hard because tomorrow I'm part of the group that's going on a border patrol.

Incidentally, Father wasn't too keen on that, dangers and so forth (honestly, I find this rather odd because Father used to send me out on these missions all the time, he says I need more diplomatic practice), but I could hardly have my knights go in without me. So, as I'm sure Morgana will hear (hmpf, I'm a coward, she says!) I stood my ground and didn't back down, so I'm leading one group and Leon the other.

So there, cowardly and a pushover when it comes to Father, ha! She'll eat those words.

Although I probably won't be here to enjoy it, shame.

Today was the Council Meeting, during which time a messager arrived with bad news, very bad news. Bandits have been spotted on the borders. They seem to be checking out the lay of the land for the moment, but that's thing about bandits they never stay away for long. I thought the best thing to do would be to send a small portion of the standing army to go and provide protection for the border towns. Apparently though that was too simplistic for the others, Monmouth seemed to be under the impression that going through old records of some war from centuries ago would help. That man is an idiot sometimes.

Eventually, Father decided the patrols would continue, since the bandits might be a diversion tactic and the army should be here at full strength.

Still, at least he considered my idea first.

I didn't have a chance to track down Morgana or Guinevere today. Hopefully tomorrow, because if I don't at least speak to Guinevere I'm going to go insane.

And yes, I should speak with Morgana as well.

Coming up with new ways to bore people. During today's council meeting he spent a good thirty or forty minutes speaking in a completely indescipherable language.

I will readily admitting hating lessons, but I paid attention to them enough to know I did not miss learning an entire language. But then everyone else seems to know what he was going on about, so maybe I have...and it's not really something one can ask, can they?

Tomorrow will be better, or at least more active, the patrols are starting again, just in case Cenred is planning any attacks, because he's been awfully quiet as of late. Frankly I'm getting the feeling he's planning something partiularly nasty. It's considered too dangerous to send spies to his kingdom though, so that's all I've got, a feeling.

I hope I'l be able to see Guinevere before heading off tomorrow, we'll be leaving early, I think she does something with the laundry around that time. Even a wave would make my day inmeasurably better.

Although with my luck I might see Morgana instead, who's been completely snippy with me since I lost to Father in the tournament. Really, she's taking it worse than I did!

I have to wonder about her sometimes...

It really didn't, except that it rained.

Hard.

The Guards of course, being the girls petticoats that they are didn't want to train, I put a stop to that. Honestly, I wasn't asking them to stand out there all day and the rain wasn't even that icy. Honestly, it's sad.

Training for the tournament went much better, although I may have been a bit tough on Sir Ioan. I seriously doubt he suspects that I was in fact not enchanted, he probably thinks I'm doing him a favour by going one on one. Going up against the best knight in Camelot is good practice, really. Perhaps I should stop...

Today was blissfully free of Council Meetings, but the same can't be said for tomorrow, apparently the first Thursday of every month is the most important council day. I'm willing to bet nothing exicting is going to happen. I think Monmouth might be speaking.

I better get enough sleep then, I doubt I'm going to have any credibility if I fall asleep in the middle of a council again. Entertainment factor aside.

Spring has finally come. A few days ago (in the throes of that horrible curse) Leon, a few of the knights and I went hunting. And it was a good hunt, the green is coming back and I think I saw a few squirrels out. I haven't seen a squirrel in ages.

That aside, since I was afflicted by this rhyming curse, I've been trying to get into the Nexus since that must be where it came from and I finally succeeded in doing so today. But apparently one cannot challenge a 'lol' as it's called to a duel.

Well, I guess I'm not going to get any satisfaction from that, damnit.

It's all over now, though and as I told Morgana, I'm going to forget about it, and hope everyone else does as well...eventually.

As it turns out the multiverse likes to provide distraction or reminders that your life is no worse than anyone else's. For example that look-a-like of me from the future who's not me is in quite a bit of trouble. I hope I was at least able to help him.

Well, in celebration of spring finally beginning training is certain to be tough.

So! I better be well rested...I can't wait!