Gwen walked carefully around the side of the castle, her cloak flapping behind her in the wind and her red dress lightly trailing the ground, the Lady Morgana had left for a short time to visit the lower bounds of the city, outside of the castle walls, and Gwen had completed her chores and so decided that she would make a bouquet of flowers for her mistress and her friend. With the basket under her arm she headed slightly into the woods, she had not planned to go far in, but she felt a strange feeling that she needed to venture farther for something, her father had always told her to follow her feelings and so she went slightly further in and she came across a clearing. It was beautiful, a lake just out in the distance and sat on the fallen tree trunk inside the clearing was the back of a young dark haired boy that she recognised at once. Merlin. Again she had a feeling that she was to stay hidden so she kept into the trees but moved round so she could see him from the front. What she saw shocked her slightly, there were droplets of water escaping from Merlin's eyes and dripping down his pale face; his hands were shaking as they were clasped tightly together and resting on top of his legs. Gwen had never seen Merlin like this; she was worried for the boy and wondered what was troubling him so. She was answered by Merlin himself however as the boy started to voice his thoughts out loud, a thing that he had always done to help himself think.

Merlin had gone out into the woods soon after helping to get his mother comfortable, he had simply sunk down on the log and away from the prying eyes of the castle staff and his friends he cried. He cried for the near death of Arthur, for the near death of his mother and the death he was contemplating for himself. When he was leaving to sacrifice himself for Arthur he did not feel this way, he knew that it was his destiny to protect the future king and the man he saw as a friend and so he had thought that this was the plan mapped out for him; for him to die at the hands of the old religion bringing back his prince, he felt that the path had been set and there was no way to escape it. Now however he knew that it was not his destiny that meant that he had to die, it was his choice, and the idea that he was so up for killing himself to save another both made him proud and so very scared. He started to talk about his thoughts aloud.
"I have to do it, she is my mother, and if I was ready to die at the hands of magic for Arthur then I should be obligated to do it for my mother."

Gwen, who was still hiding behind a tree, making sure she was in shadows so Merlin could not see her, brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle her gasp. She had wondered how the prince had made a recovery after Gaius, only the day before the Prince's recovery, had told her that the prince was almost certain to die as there was no cure for the bite of a Questing Beast. Just taking pleasure in seeing her mistress happy again and seeing the prince alive and well had meant it was worth whatever cost had been paid but Gwen had known something was up. She never suspected however that pure-hearted Merlin had brought back the proud, obnoxious prince by trying to give his own life. She had read, after sitting in Gaius study once waiting for the physician to return, that the old religion had a way of bring the dead back to life but for this to occur a life must be given in return to keep the balance of the universe, she understood now. Merlin had gone to give his life for Arthur but it appeared the sorcerer in question thought it better to taken Merlin's mother's life in repayment for Arthur's life and so that is how the woman got so gravely ill so very fast.

"Well, I was not needed anyway; I was not liked, loved nor needed. They will not probably bother looking for me when I vanish. But first I need to think of a story as to where I have gone, as I cannot put Gaius's life in danger by people finding out. I cannot say that I have gone back to my village to visit my mother as she is not there but inside Camelot. Ah, I shall fabricate a page within one of Gaius's many books, leaving a note explaining what I have done and that the page holds false information, the page mentioning the illness and listing only one cure that is in a cave and that I must bargain with and old unicorn or something as such but that it is very dangerous. If I left on this imaginary quest then I could save my mother and it would just be assumed that I had died on the journey back to Camelot, I am believed so stupid by everyone that no one would question me managing to get myself killed." He stood up suddenly, Gwen still trying to realise what the boy had just actually said. Her brain finally catching up with her, she dropped the basket she had been holding, all thoughts of picking flowers being forgotten and she raced back to castle to find the Lady Morgana, who she would confide in, perhaps not all the details she had just overheard but enough for her to warn Arthur who could convince Merlin not leave, or if he could not convince him Arthur would simply be able to overpower Merlin and physically stop him from leaving the castle walls. She just hoped that she could get the message relied quickly enough before Merlin made to leave.