Author's note: Another quick little one-shot for you all! Hope you enjoy

...

"How long has it been since anyone's been in this room?" Gwaine grumbled, pulling cobwebs out of his hair dramatically.

"Most likely not since the queen died," Gwen answered absentmindedly as she moved around opening windows to let fresh air and sunlight into the room. "Which is why we need to clean it out."

"I still don't know why I have to help." Gwaine pouted, poking at a nearby sealed crate with his boot.

"I believe it has something to do with your stunt in the tavern last week."

"Ha! Yeah." Gwaine replied with a snort and a self-satisfied smirk. "Princess is still mad at me for that one."

"And for good reason!" Merlin exclaimed as he entered the room, before letting out a massive sneeze. "Ugh, it is dusty in here." He snapped his fingers, and the dust suddenly disappeared from around him, leaving a perfectly clean circle where he stood.

"Show off." Gwaine laughed, pushing playfully at Merlin's arm.

Gwen smiled at their antics, and situated herself on the floor, opening the nearest crate and pulling out its contents.

"Seems to be only old clothing in here. I wonder if Morgana wants any of these dresses? Could you both start on those crates in the corner?"

"Sure thing, Gwen." Merlin replied, dragging a complaining Gwaine with him to sit in the corner and begin sorting.

...

"How goes the battle?" Arthur asked as he entered the room hours later and sat himself down on one of the emptied crates.

"Your father was absolutely horrible at cleaning!" Gwaine whined, blowing a stray strand of hair off his face. "I'm completely coated in dust, and I've never seen so many gowns in my life. Did he keep every gown your mother ever owned?"

"Most likely. I can't imagine him sorting through her things. He could barely speak of her, let alone relieve memories of her by going through her possessions. I think he hid them away here, so he didn't have to think about her. I didn't even know they were here until recently." As he spoke, Arthur grabbed the nearest gown off of the stack and held it up to look at. "She was so small." He mused aloud to himself. "I must be at least twice the size of her. And now I'm even older than she was when she died." He shook his head wryly.

"Oh, while you're here, you and Merlin should take a look at those books over there." Gwen added, gently breaking his revery. "I think some of them are records from your mother's family."

"Records? Of what, I wonder." Arthur stood, and approached the bookcase with Merlin right behind him.

Merlin reached out and grabbed a book off the shelf, opening the book and letting out another sneeze at the cloud of dust that flew into his face. Arthur snickered and grabbed the book from his hands, flipping idly through the pages.

"What is it?" Merlin asked.

"I think its a list of her family members," Arthur answered. "I don't recognize any of their names though."

"Wait, go back, I think I recognized one." Merlin said.

"There!" He pointed a finger at the middle of the page. "Wasn't that woman a sorceress? I remember Morgana talking about her the other day, after she returned from visiting with the druids."

"Was she? I wonder if that's where you get your magic from then, our mother?"

"Hmm. Maybe. Although its probably from her father. After all, he was the dragonlord who married into the family." Merlin grabbed another book from the shelf and opened it.

"Hold on. This one is a book of magical rituals and holidays!" He said excitedly, flipping through the pages. "But I've never seen any of these before. I wonder if they're just really old?"

He quickly flipped through a few more pages, before stopping suddenly and smiling widely.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, two things." Merlin beamed at him. "First, our mother wrote this."

"She did?" Arthur took the book from Merlin's hands, and sure enough, there was their mother's signature on the bottom of the page and a note from her on whatever magical holiday was on the page.

"Second, look at that sentence right there. This book is about Camelot's magical heritage. These are magical things specific to Camelot. Special holidays, notable people, spells that were made here. It's Camelot magical history!"

"I'm surprised it wasn't destroyed." Gwen said, moving to lean over them and examine the book for herself. "I recognize that name though. I think it was on a tapestry in the corner there."

Merlin whispered a few words, and floated the tapestry towards him, unfurling it to look over it.

"Amazing! This is a list of notable magical people in Camelot and their accomplishments."

"Think you could do any of the specialty spells these people wrote in this book, Merlin?" Gwaine added from where he stood, having picked up the book to look inside himself.

"Hey! I'm Emrys. I can do anything!"

"Oh! There's one more thing you should look at while you're here." Gwen exclaimed, rising to her feet and moving to pick up a stack of something in the corner of the room.

"Here, let me help." Arthur said, rising to take them from her hands.

"Thank you, Arthur dear. These are all portraits. I would assume of your family members, but I wouldn't know. You should go through them."

"Did she just call him 'dear'?" Gwaine stage whispered to Merlin, who smacked him over the head.

"Are you actually surprised?" He scoffed.

"No, not really. Bets on them getting married by the end of the year."

"Do you know who you're talking to? I predicted the proposal down to the hour. I'll totally win this bet. They'll be married in three months."

"You're on!"

"Ahem." Arthur interrupted, setting the portraits down on the floor. Both he and Gwen were blushing furiously.

Merlin simply smirked and reached for the first portrait. "Who do you suppose this is?"

"Our great grandfather." Arther answered. "I remember seeing a portrait of him once."

"And who is this lovely lady?" Gwaine asked, holding up the next portrait.

Merlin and Arthur gasped.

"Is that-?" Merlin asked.

"Yes. It's her. It's Ygraine." Arthur answered in a choked voice, reaching out gingerly for the portrait.

"She really was lovely." Gwen said softly, placing a hand on Arthur's arm.

"Yes. She was." Arthur managed to say.

...

That next day, the portrait of Ygraine had been given a place of honor in the throne room, next to the tapestry of Camelot's magical heritage. Along the walls, in various corridors and rooms, hung the portraits of important magical figures in Camelot's history. And in the library, books on magic's history sat proudly on display, ready to usher back in an age of magical learning in Camelot. Merlin couldn't wait to show Morgana. Just as soon as she returned from her most recent trip to the druids.