The book had been at the back of the shelf in the library. She wouldn't have even seen it if her bracelet hadn't slipped of her thin wrist when she put her books back. Typical, she had thought. I never wear jewellery and this happens the few times I do? Scrabbling at the back in search of the bracelet her fingers had hit a velvet cover and she had pulled it out to see what it was.

It turned out to be a book. It was bound strangely, with thick yellow paper inside with elegant, curving script. The red velvet cover was fastened by a gold braid. She had been entranced. Forgetting about her bracelet, she had opened the book and began to read. It was an old Arthurian legend, although she had never read one quite like it before. Instead of the usual sword-in-the-stone theory, it was all about a young man called Merlin living in Camelot. Uther was still alive, and Arthur was a bit of a prat.

Taking it to the desk, she had noticed a small sticky label on the back: 50p. The library had been selling off excess books and she had bought many before, so she dug out two twenties and a ten p coin from her purse and then she bought it, took it home and read it furiously. But strangely, near the middle, just after Merlin had been hit by a curse and was dying, and Arthur was about to be killed by the evil sorcerer, the pages went blank. Startled, she went back to the library as soon as she could, and found the same librarian that had sold her the book. After explaining and showing the old lady the blank pages, the old lady had told her to turn to the back page, next please. So she walked over to a comfy chair in a corner that few people ventured near, and opened the book at the back.

There was a recipe. A recipe for a drink, that, when drunk, would 'answer all her questions.' She went back to the librarian, but before she had even opened her mouth the old lady asked her if she had read the back page. She said she had. The old lady asked her why she hadn't done what it had said, and she went home. There wasn't really anything you could say to that, apart from tell her she was mad, and she had the feeling the old lady knew a lot more than she was letting on.

The girl sat staring at the book a long time until she sprung into action. Her parents were out with her two little sisters, and she had the house to herself. She quickly gathered all the ingredients; a metal goblet (she had to make do with her father's collectable lord of the rings goblet- Gimli's head), crushed mint, powdered sugar and orange zest. After crushing and powdering all the ingredients, dropping the orange peel in and stirring, she sieved the mixture and poured it into the goblet.

She wrinkled her nose; it didn't look appetising, and she'd never liked drinking out of metal cups, as she found the taste of iron and rust disgusting. She carried the goblet back to her room, and added the final part – her blood. This made her feel slightly faint, but she gently pricked her finger with a needle and squeezed out a drop of the ruby liquid. As soon as it hit the surface of the misty concoction, the whole thing turned red, and started to bubble and steam. This puzzled her, as she couldn't see anything that might be causing it to heat up. When the cup was almost burning her fingers and she had put it down, the liquid stilled and, from an experimental touch, had once again gone cold.

She looked at it, debating whether or not to drink. What if it killed her? Then she stopped herself being silly. None of the ingredients had been life-threatening, though certainly disgusting. After ten minutes of staring at the goblet indecisively, she finally made up her mind. Holding her nose and picking it up, she drank it as quick as she could without tasting it. When the last drops had run down her throat, she looked at the now empty goblet confusedly. She felt no different; in fact, she felt even more normal than usual.

Then she started shaking violently. She found it harder and harder to breath, and then, she lost consciousness, falling to the floor. The goblet slipped from her still fingers and hit the floor, bouncing once, twice, and then rolling back towards her prone body, finally stopping against her side. A small drop of red liquid escaped onto the carpet, seeping in and dying it red.

o0o

Merlin was picking mushrooms for Gaius in the forest just outside Camelot's walls, keeping a wary ear out for large Gryphon-like creatures. He had a spell ready this time, and no longer needed a knight like Lancelot to come and save his sorry hide. He should have been better prepared before, he chided himself, and then he came across a particularly large patch of big, healthy mushrooms and the only thought that passed through his head was to pick them all up.

Though the forest was quiet, save for the rustling leaves and branches of the trees swaying in the light breeze from the direction of the coast. Merlin hurried up. He felt uneasy and was sure he could sense magic in the air. As he picked up speed, his ungainly feet hit something in the grass, and he went down with a bang. He lay there for a while, groaning at his own stupidity and complete inability to stay upright, before he dragged himself up and began to pick up all the mushrooms that had scattered from his basket as he fell. Only then did he see what he'd tripped over.

Picking it up and turning it over in his hands, he stared at the strange metal goblet with a man's face and helmet carved into the metal. Cautiously sniffing the inside, he smelt sugar and blood, and maybe a hint of mint. A potion. He scouted around to see if the person who'd dropped it was nearby, putting the goblet carefully into his basket, nestled among the mushrooms. He discovered a bag, containing three plain women's dresses, a nightdress and a silk dress not unlike the one worn by the Lady Helen, when she performed in front of the court and attempted to kill Arthur, before turning out to be a witch.

He wondered why a bag with clothes worth quite a lot of money in would just be abandoned, and then he turned the corner round a huge old oak tree and he realized that it hadn't been left. The owner was lying in front of him.

After a few seconds of standing stock still, staring open-mouthed, his physician side kicked in and he rushed over to the girl lying on the forest floor. She was breathing shallowly and was burning up with fever. Merlin hovered hesitantly, wondering what Gaius would say when he turned up with yet another stray. After deciding he wouldn't be able to leave the girl here without feeling guilty, he picked her up awkwardly, and then he realized he'd have to leave her bag and his mushrooms behind. He sighed, and put her down again.

A few magic words and both objects fitted easily into his pockets. He hoisted the girl up again and headed back to the city, stumbling slightly. The girl wasn't large, but she looked rather muscly and felt rather sturdy. A whispered spell sorted that out, and Merlin hurried back to Gaius, aware of her ever-increasing temperature. He got a few strange looks from people in the streets, but after being pelted by rotten fruit he found himself quite immune to public humiliation.

He passed Gwen's house, which was empty as she was up at the castle with Morgana. So should he, in theory, but Arthur had decided that Merlin deserved a day off. He had taken advantage of the strangely lenient mood of his master only to be ordered out by Gaius. Well, it was bad for him, but a stroke of luck for this girl that he was treated like a servant by everyone. If only they knew…

But if they did he would be executed. And nobody wanted that, especially not him. He liked his head the way it was, thanks.

The girl muttered deliriously as he backed into Gaius's rooms. The old man in question was bending over some bubbling poultice.

'Ahh, Merlin, are you finally back with those mushrooms?' He turned round, and saw what Merlin was carrying. 'Where are my mushrooms?' he asked indignantly, as Merlin hurried in and placed the girl on the bed reserved for patients and, occasionally, a very tired Gaius.

'Here,' he said, slightly out of breath, as he drew out the objects from his pocket and restored them to their proper size. Gaius opened his mouth disapprovingly and was about to reprimand Merlin for using his magic when he caught sight of the goblet in the basket. Merlin used the seconds the old physician was occupied with lifting it gently away from the mushrooms to take off the spell from the girl, returning her to her normal weight.

'What have you brought back this time?' Gaius sighed and examined the goblet, the mushrooms left forgotten in their basket on the floor.

'I found that,' Merlin said, pointing to the metal cup in Gaius's hands, 'well, I say found, I mean tripped over…' Gaius snorted, which Merlin found quite rude.

'Only you, Merlin,' chortled Gaius, placing the goblet on a bench next to the bed and finding a flannel to place on the girl's forehead.

'And this bag in the forest, and then I came across her,' Merlin finished, drawing up a chair and sitting by the bed. 'Is she ok? What do you think happened?'

'Poison,' Gaius said shortly, 'but it's not serious. I don't know why she would be in the forest, though.'

'Maybe she was coming to Camelot,' Merlin thought out loud, taking the flannel from Gaius as he bustled around making an antidote.

'Maybe. Whoever gave her the drink used her own blood. Look,' Gaius held up her finger, which had a tiny pinprick and a small bubble of dried blood on the tip.

'Can you cure her?' Merlin asked, watching his guardian hurry around, adding various things to various other things. Medicine wasn't really Merlin's strong point.

'I know what the poison was; it's a well known sleep draught but with the added effect of the drinker's blood and a slight hint of magic.'

'Magic?' Merlin asked, worried. 'Who would use magic round here?' Gaius mixed a violently yellow mixture with a dark red liquid, and the action was accompanied by a small puff of smoke.

'That's what I'm worried about. It was most probably someone who's not from round here. Although why this particular poison I have no idea. It doesn't kill, just gives the drinker fever and slight amnesia.'

'Does it need magic to be cured?' Merlin asked. Gaius shook his head, and mixed the red antidote, before pouring it into the goblet Merlin had found by the girl in the forest.

'Hand,' he ordered. Merlin, perplexed, held up his hand. He immediately wished he hadn't when Gaius stabbed his index finger with the end of a small knife and squeezed the wound over the goblet, causing the mixture to steam and bubble.

'Ow!' Merlin complained, sucking his finger.

'Better your blood than mine. You're young and healthy.'

'Sticking a pin in your finger will hurt you as much as me,' Merlin muttered.

'I mean for her. The antidote will work quicker.'

'She's going to drink my blood?' Merlin squeaked, but Gaius ignored him and thrust the goblet into his hand, before tilting the girl's head back and holding her nose.

'Pour it into her mouth,' Gaius said. Merlin did as he was asked, and when the goblet was empty he wiped a stray droplet that had escaped and rolled down the girl's neck.

'Now what?' he asked.

'Now you wait for her to wake up,' Gaius told him. 'I'm going out, so remember what I'm going to tell you. She'll wake up in an hour or so, when her fever's died. The first time she'll be slightly dazed and may not act like herself. Try and keep her in this room, and make sure she falls asleep again. Then she'll wake up after a few minutes, and she'll be cured. Got that?' Gaius pointed a threatening finger at Merlin, who rolled his eyes.

'I'm not completely incapable, you know,' he protested. Gaius left, and Merlin huffed and crossed his arms. He had an hour to kill, so he stared at the girl lying on the bed in front of him.

She was about the same height, maybe a bit taller, than Gwen, but he couldn't really tell as she was lying down. She had dark brown hair, also like Gwen, but shorter and rather wavy and unruly. Her complexion was lighter than Gwen's but not as pale as Lady Morgana's, and, although not pretty, her face was striking. Her arms were long and, Merlin counted, the right one had five moles. The plain red dress she wore had collected a few leaves, so he brushed them off. He also picked some forest debris out of her hair. He slept for a while, waking with a jerk when a plate that had been dangerously close to the edge finally fell off with a smash. Annoyed at the sudden stop to his rather peaceful dreams, in which everyone accepted his gift and worshipped him, he angrily fixed the plate with magic and put it back on the side.

A small gasp from behind him told him the girl had woken up. He went over and sat back down on his chair. The girl stared at him with wide brown eyes, an astonished look on her face.

'You…' she muttered, still gazing at him in shock.

'I'm Merlin,' he said quickly, holding out his hand. She took it and, to his surprise, examined it, turning it over in her own.

'It feels so real,' she murmured, reaching out to touch his face. He was slightly shocked, and rightly so, but nothing prepared him for what happened next. She cupped his face in both her hands, seemingly unable to believe that he was real. Merlin thought this strange behaviour, and then he felt her lips on his.

It didn't last long, but before he had time to recover she had got up and wandered out, picking up things as she went and muttering to herself, 'this can't be real.' He quickly got up and ran after her. As he followed her down the castle corridors, he tried not to draw too much attention to them, but she was attracting a few odd stares as she ran her hands over the stone walls and muttered. For a person with a fever, she moved pretty fast. He caught up with her outside on the training grounds, where Arthur was practicing with his sword and some poor unfortunate soul that was taking Merlin's place. She pottered over to him, tripping as she went. Merlin stifled a groan as he saw Arthur catch her in his arms. What was he supposed to do now?

'Hello,' said Arthur, smiling down at her. He lifted her back up and she ran a hand over his armour before setting off again. Arthur looked confused.

'Stop her!' Merlin cried, sprinting across the field and catching up with the girl. She whirled around and looked at him.

'Merlin,' she said, before he waved his hand over her face quickly and muttered some magic words. She fell, unconscious, into his arms.

'Merlin?' Arthur called, clanking over. 'Who's she? What's happened to her?'

'Errr… she was ill. She had a fever. She's delirious, and she wandered away when I wasn't looking,' he said, which was not entirely a lie.

'Gaius' patient?' Arthur asked. Merlin nodded, and hoisted her back into his arms before setting back off towards Gaius' rooms. To his intense relief, Arthur didn't follow, and just gave him a pitying look before setting about pretending to kill people once more. Merlin made it back without incident, and laid the girl back on the bed with a sigh of relief. That was stressful. He dozed for maybe ten or fifteen minutes more before the girl woke up again, as Gaius had said. She sat up, wearing a look of dawning comprehension and mortification as she remembered what had happened earlier.

'Oh my God, I'm so sorry,' she gasped, putting her hands over her mouth and going slightly pink. Merlin brought her over a cup of water.

'Don't worry about it; it was the fever,' he told her, watching her knock back the water.

'You put me to sleep using magic,' she said. It wasn't a question.

'No, no I didn't,' he said hastily, taking the now empty cup back and turning away. 'That was just the fever.'

'You can do magic,' she said again, and then she stood up, swaying slightly. Merlin rushed over and supported her.

'Careful; you've only just recovered from being poisoned,' he told her forcing her to sit back down.

'Head rush,' she said, and then, 'I won't tell. I promise.' Merlin didn't say anything, and handed her the bag he had found.

'Is this yours?' he asked her, and she took it.

'Errr… yes,' she said, sorting through. She drew out a small silver brush Merlin had missed before, and a beautiful glass vial. She opened it, and a perfume scented the air. Then she pulled out a velvet-bound book, and let out an audible gasp. 'This is mine.'

'I'm Merlin,' he said again, holding out his hand as he had done before. She smiled and took it properly this time.

'Regan,' she said.

'Can you remember anything? Gaius- that's the physician who lives here, he's my guardian- said you might have slight amnesia.' A strange look crossed her face, and then she shook her head.

'No. I can't remember anything.' She looked upset, and Merlin rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

'Gaius is the best Physician in the Kingdom. He'll be able to get your memory back,' he said. She smiled wanly.

'Great,' she said, but she didn't sound happy to Merlin. He was about to say something when Gaius burst into the room.

'Aaah. The mysterious girl from the forest is awake, then? How are you feeling?'

'I feel… fine,' she said, as though surprised. 'Thank you,' she said, as Gaius fussed around her, checking her temperature and giving her another drink.

'Don't thank me; thank Merlin. He's the one who found you and brought you back,' Gaius said, looking over at him. Merlin felt the tips of his ears burn.

'It was nothing,' he said hurriedly, before getting up to root in the cupboards for food. The door was flung open again, but this time a much younger man strode in.

'Merlin, have you seen my…' Arthur stopped when he saw Regan sitting up on the bed. 'She's better, then?'

'Why don't you ask her,' Merlin said as he rolled his eyes. 'She can understand you.'

'Yes, thanks,' she said.

'Gaius is the best physician in the Kingdom; you were in safe hands. Merlin, I've lost my…'

'Your brown jacket is clean and hanging in your wardrobe, and your red tunic with the pattern on the front is being mended from where you tore it the other day on the mace,' Merlin said, quickly.

'Oh… right. Thanks.' Arthur beat a hasty retreat from the room and the door swung shut behind him. Regan got up and started to walk around, examining all of Gaius' various jars, herbs and bubbling medicines. Merlin could see the wonder in her wide eyes.

'I can't believe it. Everything is so real,' she said, waving her hand over a flame. 'Ouch.' Merlin rushed over to find her inspecting her hand.

'Did you burn…' he began, but she shook her head.

'It was…hot,' she said. 'I didn't expect it to be hot.'

'It's a flame. I think they're supposed to be hot,' Merlin said, confused at her behaviour. She held out her hand.

'Pinch me. So I know it's not a dream.'

'Why would it be a dream?' Merlin asked, absolutely lost by now.

'It just… please?' she asked, looking at him pleadingly. Merlin, being Merlin, did as he was asked.

'Ow!'

'Sorry, I…'

'No, thanks. Thank you,' she said, staring at her hand in amazement. 'So this is actually real.' Merlin was beginning to worry when he remembered that she had amnesia. He supposed everything might seem a little unreal if you couldn't remember who you were. But then a thought struck him, How did she know her name? Gaius did say slight amnesia, but with the way she was acting… something wasn't right. Merlin decided he had to know, or it'd bug him for ages.

'I'm guessing you have nowhere to stay for the meantime,' Gaius said, looking up at Regan from the bottles he was labelling. She nodded. Gaius sighed.

'You can stay here until you get your memory back,' he told her, and she smiled in relief.

'Thank you!' she said, tackling the old man in a hug. Merlin grinned at Gaius' surprise.

'Since you are not complete without your memories, I cannot pronounce you cured,' he said, smiling at her.

'I'll repay you, I'll work for you,' she said, eagerly.

'That would be nice, since my supposed helper is busy all the time with Prince Arthur,' Gaius said, shooting a look at Merlin. Merlin, however, was used to Gaius grumbling about losing a general dogsbody and turned instead to Regan.

'If you're staying here I might as well show you round,' he said. 'I've got a day off, after all.' Her face lit up.

'Would you? That would be great!' She ran towards him, but stumbled a little on the hem of her dress and practically threw herself at him. He caught her, and she got up, bright red and embarrassed.

'Sorry. I'm never usually this clumsy. I've never worn anything like this before,' she said, plucking at her skirt. Then her face froze as she realized what she'd just said. Merlin glanced towards Gaius, but he hadn't heard.

'You've never worn a dress before?' Merlin asked, unable to think what else a woman could wear.

'I've worn a dress before,' she bit back defensively. 'I'm… not from round here,' she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

'Perhaps you can't remember wearing one?' he offered, and she seized that excuse.

'Yes, that's it.' She sighed, obviously relieved. Merlin was intrigued further, but said nothing more on the subject, and gallantly held out his arm. She took it, laughing, and he led her around the castle.

Merlin found her to be good company. Once she got over her initial shyness she reminded him a lot of Gwen, and when they bumped into her during a tour of the city, the two girls hit it off instantly. Merlin showed her the stocks, and she laughed at his stories of being unfairly punished in them.

She used very strange phrases; words Merlin had never heard before. All this added to the mystery. When they were back at Gaius' rooms Merlin discovered his room, already quite small, had been made even tinier by a curtain dividing it in two. The only good thing about this was that all his stuff had been tidied up. Behind the curtain they discovered a new bed and cupboard, with Regan's things spread around.

'I'm guessing you're staying here, then,' Merlin said, as she nosed around.

'Good guess,' said Gaius. 'Maybe this will encourage you to keep things tidy, Merlin.' Merlin grinned.

'I wouldn't bet on that.

AN: This is my first venture into the fandom of Merlin, so please review and tell me how I did! Thanks.