Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

This is in my A Knightly Surprise universe, but it's almost an AU of that AU. It's post AKS, but it really isn't going to affect that universe.

Past Arthur and Gwaine are from the gap between seasons 3 and 4 (Uther is alive, Morgana has betrayed everyone, and Arthur is a Prince). The future/main part of this story takes place post AKS.

I will be writing both this and Resemblance Recognized. I'm still planning a sequel to AKS.

Prince Arthur rolled the strange artifact around in his hands. He had been seated in the castle's war chamber wondering whether or not it was time to install a round table when several knights had entered. Sir Leon had been leading a patrol that morning when he had come across a sorcerer terrorizing a small village. The sorcerer had been killed in the chaos, and the knights had found little other than an hourglass in his possession.

Gaius had been immediately called, of course, but he could offer no explanation as to what it was. The hourglass had appeared to be nothing more than an hourglass, though its black sand seemed odd to the prince.

Arthur had been pondering the morning's events for most of the day. He hated that sorcery was still terrorizing his kingdom, but he could no longer place all of the blame on the shoulders of magic users. His recent increase in duties after Morgana's betrayal had forced him to face many hard truths. His father would have told him to send out a squadron of knights and soldiers to further purge magic from the realm. For once, Arthur had been glad that he was the one making the decisions. More innocents did not need to die.

"Hello, Princess," Sir Gwaine announced himself as he entered the room to sit at the table with Arthur. The Prince was going to have to do something about the nickname. "I heard that Leon had an interesting time this morning."

Arthur set the hourglass on the table and Gwaine leaned forward. "Any idea why a sorcerer would be carrying this on him?"

Gwaine picked it up and turned it over in his hands. "Is it magical? Of course not. You wouldn't be touching it if it were." He seemed to be speaking more to himself than anything.

"We don't actually know if it's magical, so you should put it down before something happens!" Arthur commanded his knight. He immediately regretted his words, as Gwaine like nothing more than to disobey them. Arthur groaned when Gwaine grinned.

"I'm quite careful, Princess, don't worry."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Well, I haven't been to the tavern recently, at the very least."

Just then, the glass slipped from the cocky knight's hands. Arthur rolled his eyes as it crashed to the floor and sand spilled everywhere. His reprisal was cut short, though, when the sand began to swirl across the ground and into the air.

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King Arthur grinned across the Round Table as Elyan and Gwaine bickered over who was more favored by the ladies at court. Things in Camelot had finally settled down, most of the surrounding kingdoms had accepted his recent legalization of magic, and there had been very little trouble across the lands. It was Merlin's theory that the mages around the kingdom were so grateful to be free that they were taking care of any little issues that might spring up without prompting.

All of the round table knights were present, Mordred included, in addition to the queen. Merlin, however, was absent. The Court Sorcerer had gone to meet a group of druids who would be entering the city tomorrow to join the market. There was much that people had bought from the druids before the purge that they now had to do without. Merlin was intent on changing that, so he would be leading the druids into the city the next morning and keeping the peace in case any of the few remaining magic haters chose to act out.

"That's enough, both of you!" Gwen chided the two arguing knights. "You're both very well-liked among the ladies at court. Does it really matter?"

Gwaine and Elyan nodded emphatically after glancing at one another. "It's an extremely important question, Gwen," Gwaine said with a straight face.

"Maybe Emma can help," Elyan exclaimed with a grin. "She does spend a great deal of time with the ladies."

Lady Emily, or Emma, was a close friend to many of the knights as well as to the king and queen. Arthur truly did admire her strength, both mental and physical. Incidentally, Emma was also Merlin's fiancée.

Arthur began speaking before an argument could break out. "I would first like to thank all of you for your parts in helping Camelot to avoid war of any kind," Arthur told them. "Many people look up to my knights for guidance, and your peaceful acceptance of magic was more than I could have asked for. That being said, we must continue to remain on alert to prevent evil users of magic from tearing down the kingdom. The market day tomorrow is going to be a true test of peace in our city."

"The druids have come to markets before," Percival interrupted. "They've been given very little trouble."

Arthur nodded. "As you know, more than a few are coming tomorrow. Merlin didn't have exact numbers, but there are going to be many of them."

"They're going to feel more comfortable using magic openly," Gwen realized. Previously, though druids had attended market days, they hadn't flaunted their magic.

Golden symbols swirled their way across the table to an empty seat, and Arthur looked at the door just as it opened to admit Gaius. "You sent for me, Sire?" the physician asked as he walked over to the table.

The King nodded. "I was wondering whether anything of note had been found in the vaults." Arthur had tasked Gaius with looking though the vaults for any treasures which had been unfairly taken from the druids.

Gaius nodded. "I found two particular pieces which should be returned to their rightful owners. Several others, however, need to be kept under lock and key."

"What is that?" Gwen asked as Gaius set an hourglass filled with black sand on the table.

"I'm not certain, Gwen," Gaius admitted. "I couldn't identify it when I came across it, and I was planning to take it to my chambers for further study. Uther simply threw anything that possessed magic into the vaults without care for its properties, and I, for one, find that to be an extremely dangerous practice."

Arthur reached out for the hourglass in order to get a better look just as a blinding whirl of blackness shadowed the room. It lasted only seconds, but it disappeared to reveal two figures sitting in the middle of the table.