The Coming of Magic (sequel to The Dawn of a New Day)
by Gwenneth

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, just having a bit of fun!

Summary: AU: Arthur survived Camlann, with Merlin's help, and Merlin's magic is partially out in the open. Tag along as the Round Table, Arthur and Gwen get used to Merlin's magic, trouble finds them around every corner and Albion finally enters its Golden Age.

Things in Camelot had been strangely quiet in the last few weeks. Merlin had refrained from doing much magic, even though there were now quite a few people privy to his powers. As a matter of fact, most of the Round Table had yet to see more than a single instance of magic and for some of them, the desire to see more was beginning to mount.

Sir Leon, in particular, was dying to sit Merlin down and witness magic that wasn't being used to try and take his head off or kill his King. Which was why he was currently traipsing about the deeper regions of the castle where no one ventured unless they we bored, had something distinctly illegal to engage in or had an odd attraction to cobwebs.

"Ugh," the knight said, pulling a thin rope of webbing from his face with a disgusted grunt. "This is positively vile." Beside him, Percival chuckled.

"It's not like the servants clean down here," the taller knight said. "What were you expecting, really?" He pressed aside another heavy curtain of web and jiggled a handle that had just been revealed. Unlike the three previous doors, this one swung inward at his bidding. "Finally!" he exclaimed.

The two knights pushed the door all the way open and pressed their torches forward into the gloom of the room beyond. Leon's eyes widened. This was what they had been searching for. More even. This room looked like it had been made for what they were intending. And in all honesty, perhaps it had been.

"Look at these," Percival said, drawing Leon's attention to the ground. "Reckon those are magic symbols?"

The older knight crouched down and cast his torch light in the direction of the floor. Etched into the stone were symbols he couldn't decipher. But it wasn't the first time he'd seen their like – they were similar in form to those that graced the Cup of Life.

"I think you're right," he said. "This is the place, Percival," he said. "No one will see Merlin down here. I know he must be itching to use his magic, and to be frank, I'm equally as interested in seeing its potential uses in battle scenarios. No sense sitting on a power like that when it can come in handy."

Percival laughed. "Always the strategist, Leon," he said, rising and stepping further into the room. "Before we bring him down here, though, we best at least clean it up a bit." He faltered. "Or, maybe not. I'll bet he could do it with a snap of his fingers."

The other knight shrugged. "I don't know, perhaps. I really don't know what he can do. He and the King have been close-mouthed about it all. I mean, yes, we know he has done much to save the kingdom, but has Merlin had much chance to just relax and enjoy his abilities?"

Percival sighed. "I'd venture not," he said, setting his torch in a bracket on the wall. "We definitely owe him. The least we can do is bring him down to a room free of these wretched webs. The rest, well, I'd like to see if he could have done his chores in seconds."

And the two set to work, excitement about the prospect of giving their friend a special gift and seeing some magic to boot fueling their progress.

Council chambers a few days later …

"Just … stop."

Merlin shifted from foot to foot one last time, then stopped. "Sorry," he muttered, firmly planting his feet as best he could behind and beside Arthur's throne. "There's just something here that is … screaming wrong at me and my … you know … is hard to reign in sometimes."

Arthur twisted in his seat. "Wrong? Are we in danger?"

The warlock shrugged. "It's not that specific, sire," he said with a frown. "But something isn't right. I can't say if it's here or if it's elsewhere in the castle. Right now, it's just … there." He huffed. "But it's bugging me."

He might have continued if the doors didn't swing open and a man in manacles wasn't led into the throne room. Arthur swung back around and Merlin cast his attention to the scene before him. This man had been casting spells on customers in the lower town, making them buy his wares at exorbitant fees. He was one of many who had appeared in Camelot since the outright pain of death punishment for sorcery had been rescinded. It seemed like many more with magic were chancing the city, even though magic was still illegal.

The leniency had its good and bad points, obviously.

"Nolan of Icarus," Arthur said. "You have been charged with the casting of enchantments on your customers. As per the laws of Camelot, I shall judge you and sentence you according to the severity of your crime."

He leaned back and contemplated the man in front of him. It had been a stupid scheme. The customers had reported him within hours of his arrival in the city. They had arrived home with goods they didn't want and no idea why they had bought them.

Arthur wondered, after Merlin's feeling, if this man had another agenda.

"Have you anything to say in your defense?" he asked.

Blue eyes rose and met the King's.

Uh-oh.

"I do," the man said. "Tospringe."

The manacles popped open and Nolan's freed hand cast to the side with a shouted word. It was only seconds before he was sending a dagger toward the King's unprotected chest with a flash of golden eyes and another shouted spell.

He was no match for the wiry servant.

Merlin's hands didn't even move, his eyes flashed and the dagger stopped in mid-flight three feet in front of Arthur. To his credit, the King hadn't even flinched or made to move. He had had complete confidence in Merlin's ability to protect him.

Nolan's eyes went wide and there were gasps from the Council members seated in the room around them. Merlin's breathing quickened behind him, but Arthur chose not to acknowledge it. He stood and reached for the dagger, which Merlin's magic relinquished when he made contact with it.

"So you sought to kill me?" he said quietly. "Why?"

The man, who was now at the sword points of four knights of Camelot, swallowed thickly. "You … killed my family. All of them. In a Druid camp. You thought we'd kidnapped the Lady Morgana. You … I hate you."

Arthur nodded. "And so you should," he said quietly. "I too would despise the man who killed my family. But if I have learned anything in these years as King, it's been that murder and killing gets one nowhere. By meeting sorcery with death, we invite more death by sorcery. By attempting more violence, you've made yourself no better a man than I was then, Nolan."

Merlin shifted behind him as the sorceror's eyes blazed in anger. "I'm nothing like you! I didn't murder anyone in cold blood!"

"No? That wasn't your intent just now? To murder an unarmed man?" the King asked, arching an eyebrow.

Nolan paused. "Then arm yourself," he said boldly.

Merlin was vehemently shaking his head behind him, Arthur could tell. "Why should I do that," the King said. "I can't fight your magic with my sword. You can attack from a great distance, while I must be in short range."

He shifted his gaze to the room at large. "I was going to sentence Nolan of Icarus to community service for his crime of enchantments. But for his crime of attempted murder, there can only be one sentence. Death. Guards, take him away. And we will hold no more court today."

As soon as the doors were shut, the Council exploded. "Magic! Where did it come from? Sire, who among the knights have you allowed to train in such ways?" The questions came fast and furious from all directions, but the main thrust of them was which knight had saved the King's life.

Around the room, the knights of the Round Table watched as Merlin shrank back from the cacophony of voices. It was apparent to them he didn't want the Council to know about his magic. Arthur, it seemed, was refusing to look back at him. Probably for fear of giving away the secret.

Raising his hand, the King silenced the Council. "I know you have many questions. I know you want to know the identity of the man who saved my life just now. And I know, with magic still illegal in Camelot, this raises some concerns. For now, I am not going to divulge this person's identity." He heard a murmur begin and silenced it with a heavy frown. "As your King, this is a matter that concerns my safety and as such is left to my Round Table knights. Rest assured, this man is no threat to Camelot. As a matter of fact, Councilors, this same man saved the day at Camlann, though he was disguised at the time."

He dismissed the Council quickly following that pronouncement and as soon as the doors clicked shut behind him, he heard a thud and turned to find Merlin slumped in the nearest chair. "That was close. Too close." The warlock muttered. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe people aren't ready for magic just yet. That man got feet from you, Arthur. That would never have happened if we hadn't eased up on the laws against magic."

He wasn't speaking loudly but his words, being the only ones in the cavernous room, echoed all the same.

"Bollocks," came a voice from near the doorway.

All eyes shifted. Merlin's mouth fell open. He had expected that kind of retort from Arthur, perhaps, but from Sir Leon? Never in all his years had he heard such a thing from the man. He watched as the knight broke away from the wall. "I never thought I'd be the one saying this," the man continued, "but I truly believe this is the exception and not the normal. These attacks will happen, but they happened before the change too. This new direction is right. And it is long overdue. I stood by for many years while these attacks occurred, Merlin, and I will have to live with the screams. I, for one, am behind the King's decision entirely and I believe more magic users are like you than like him."

The dark-haired young man blinked. For a moment, he said nothing, then he inclined his head in thanks and turned to Arthur, waiting for the monarch to address the assembled. Arthur was smirking. "If you are quite finished, the two of you," the King said, "I think we've all had enough excitement for the afternoon. We'll gather tonight at sundown to discuss the recruits. We are in sore need of reinforcements in the ranks."

That sobered those in attendance, reminding them of the heavy losses at Camlann – and afterward. The send-off for Sir Gwaine had been particularly hard for all of them. Merlin had barely contained his emotions, refusing to let his tears fall until he had returned to his room that evening.

*** Flashback ***

The knight had been farewelled in much the same fashion as Lancelot, except this time there actually was a man to watch the flames devour. While Merlin knew that Gwaine couldn't feel them, he still turned his eyes downward as the yellow and orange heat licked around the fallen man's body.

Arthur, having no intention of leaving the pyre until it burned to nothing, dismissed the majority of his ranks with a solemn nod and gesture. The soft patter of shoes on stone and the crackling flame were the only sounds as the courtyard emptied of all save the Round Table knights, Arthur, Gwen, Gaius and Merlin.

The latter was swallowing hard now, finding it increasingly difficult to remain here. Arthur was his best friend, yes, but Gwaine had been the next closest to his heart. And he had died without ever learning who Merlin really was. And it hurt. The pain of knowing that Gwaine would never know, that he would never see Merlin's gifts and laugh at one of his tricks, had tears prickling heavily in Merlin's eyes.

"This feels so wrong."

The words were whispered, barely carrying around the assembled, but audible enough to have heads lifting. Percival started when he realized he'd spoken aloud. He met Arthur's gaze and bowed his head. "Forgive me, sire. I didn't mean to speak inappropriately."

But Merlin shook his head slowly. "No, you're right," he said, equally as quietly. "This does feel wrong. Gwaine was never quiet. Never solemn. Never … melancholy. I feel … he wouldn't have wanted this."

And then Merlin did something he never did. He tossed caution to the wind and lifted a hand. With a whispered word, the flames that had calmly taken their friend and comrade to his next great adventure sprung to life in a brilliant burst of color.

Red, purple, blue and green, they burst silently just above the pyre, taking the shape of miniature dragons and wolves – because Gwaine wouldn't have wanted butterflies or something girly. Merlin dropped his hand after a moment and the display fell silent, the flames returned to their original state, as if nothing had happened at all.

Arthur watched the moisture that threatened to leak from Merlin's eyes. "Now that I think he would have liked," the King said quietly. "Though, you should have thrown in a tankard of mead..."

Merlin gave his liege a watery smile and as the fire died down to embers and the assemblage broke up, the young warlock felt marginally better that he'd been able to at least add something special to his friend's farewell.

*** End Flashback ***

Merlin wasn't expecting to be waylaid as soon as he exited the throne room, and certainly not by a cadre of the Round Table knights. Leon had latched onto his sleeve and tugged persistently until the younger man followed him down the corridor, leaving a slightly perplexed Arthur to head to his chambers with Gwen.

Percival, Pelinor, Bruin, Durnure and Galahad were waiting slightly past Leon down the corridor. "Merlin? Can I borrow you, for a moment?" Leon asked, not relinquishing his hold on the jacket sleeve. "We found something we think you'll like."

Intrigued now, Merlin relaxed and nodded. Feeling it safe enough that Merlin wouldn't bolt if he let go, Leon dropped his grip on the younger man's sleeve and took him by the shoulders. "This way," he said, almost gleefully, steering him around. "Percival and I found it a few days ago and have been itching to show it to you."

"What, exactly, is it?" Merlin asked as he was very nearly frogmarched through the castle corridors, deeper and deeper into the stone walls until he was sure he was farther beneath the building than even the dragon's cave.

He stumbled as Leon drew him to an abrupt halt outside a doorway. Percival, smiling broadly, swung it open and the knights scrambled through, slipping torches into brackets to lighten the room. As Merlin entered, he was shocked to see just where the knights had taken him.

So shocked, in fact, that he didn't pay any heed to the symbols on the ground until he had crossed over them. As soon as he did, there was a blast of blue light and the entire ceiling of the room erupted in magical fire.

Merlin and the knights ducked instinctively, expecting to feel heat from the flickering blue flames, but none seemed to be radiating from it. The warlock looked at Leon questioningly. "What in blazes is this place?" He asked, standing slowly to get a better look at the ceiling. "And you don't look like you knew that was going to happen."

Leon stood shakily. "We didn't. It didn't happen before. We've been in here a dozen times, clearing out cobwebs. Nothing happened. That's … that's ..."

He was at a loss.

Merlin turned around and looked toward the door. His glance shifted down and he spied the markings in the stone. "Runes," he said. Stepping closer, he knelt and traced them. "OK, so that's not so bad." He muttered.

"What?" Percival asked, stooping beside him. "What happened? What is that?"

Pointing, Merlin replied, "These are runes. When I crossed them, they reacted to my magic and … turned on a light. I suppose this was a sorceror's workroom, of a fashion. But there are a lot of runes here I can't even read. I best not cross over those, there's no telling what they might do."

The knights exchanged glances and Leon frowned. "Perhaps we were a bit hasty in our excitement," he said. "We just wanted to give you a place you where you could be open and where we could talk freely with you. Arthur has his chambers, but we're your friends too."

The warlock was touched. He had considered the knights his friends, but he hadn't expected such a strong reaction from them. Even Arthur hadn't gone this far. "No, it's great," he hurriedly exclaimed. "I mean, I've always wanted a place I could be me without fear of discovery. And this room seems to be made for magic."

Seeing that Merlin wasn't overly worried about the room, the knights started to relax and wander around the room with the warlock. Merlin found books lining one wall, from spell books to what appeared to be diaries. Those, he couldn't wait to get his hands on! On another side of the room were bottles and jars labeled carefully. It made Merlin think of Gaius' work station – but some of the ingredients were definitely magical in nature, if "unicorn hair" was anything to go by.

"How is it that this room wasn't completely dismantled and destroyed by Uther," Merlin wondered aloud. The knights agreed – it seemed unbelievable that the magic-hating King of Camelot would have allowed such a place to exist under his castle. "Maybe Gaius knows. Maybe he was even in here before the Purge." He gestured to the Runes. "I'm sure he could decipher those too."

After a few more minutes of perusing the room, the group decided it was time to leave. Merlin, of course, wanted to stay, but despite his inate ability to use magic – he still couldn't read half the Runes in the room and needed Gaius to make sure he didn't do anything stupid, like bring down the castle on himself.

The knights filed out, leaving Leon, Percival and Merlin in the room. The latter shook his head and turned to the other two. "I know you guys were the ones who found this room," he said. "And I'm honored you think highly enough of me to go to such lengths to give me something. So … I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you."

Percival clapped Merlin on the shoulder with a broad grin. "No problem, mate," he said. "Only thing we ask in return is you show us a little magic, all right?"

Merlin chuckled. "That, I can do!"

He stepped toward the threshold and the smile suddenly fell from his face. Merlin's magic prickled and he thrust out a hand to stop Percival and Leon just as a wall of red flashed upward from the stone floor, rapidly spreading along the perimeter of the room until it had encircled the entire space.

Merlin stared at the startled Pelinor, Bruin, Galahad and Durnure outside the room. He reached forward toward the barrier and yelped in surprise when a searing pain met his hand. Pulling it back, he studied his hand and was shocked to find it red and raw, as if burnt.

"Are you all right?" Leon asked, leaning forward in concern when Merlin had cried out. He saw the injury and glanced over at Percival. "That's not good. See if you can find something to wrap his hand with."

Before Percival could move, however, Merlin shook his head. "Not necessary," he said quietly. Holding his other hand over the burnt one, he spoke softly and quickly. His blue eyes shifted to gold and when he moved his good hand aside – the other was unblemished. "I've gotten good with burns," he said in explanation. "Came in handy, since I tended to burn myself stoking Arthur's fire."

"Right," Leon said, his eyes bright at the display of magic he'd been yearning to see. "OK, so, you can't touch the barrier, obviously. What did you cross to create it?"

Bending, the three examined the ground. A few sharp breaths to remove a layer of dust later and they had uncovered a Rune. Merlin frowned. "I'm not entirely sure of the translation," he said slowly, "but I think it has something to do with containment."

Percival bit his lip and then stood abruptly and before Merlin or Leon could stop him, though they did shout "stop," he reached a hand forward to the barrier. But unlike Merlin, his hand was unscathed when it made contact and actually went right through.

The young warlock stood then and smiled. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "It's a magic containment barrier. You can cross it because you have no magic. I can't, because I do. I imagine the barrier is actually meant to keep spells from leaving the room or damaging the castle. But in this case … I'm afraid it's done something entirely different."

With a sigh and shake of his head, he continued. "Arthur is never going to let me live this down because – I don't know how to shut it down and I'm stuck in here until we figure out how to cancel it."

As the knights outside the room ran to fetch the King and Court Physician, Merlin slumped into a chair near the work table, muttering ... "Never. Going. To. Live. It. Down."

A/N: OK, so there it is ... the first chapter of the sequel to The Dawn of a New Day. Mind, the updates on here will be slower. I'm very very very busy at home and work. But I'm hoping to remain inspired by, hopefully, some reviews with some great ideas? :-) Let me know what you'd like to see.