I spent the night in Merlin's bed, against my wishes. George curled up by my stomach, purring away. I sighed when I woke up just before dawn. Me. With magic. It was unbelievable. Wrapping a hand around George, I picked him up and set him on the floor. "I got to get to work." I muttered, running my hands through my hair. Then I sighed. "Magic or not."

"Hey, you awake?" Merlin poked his head through the door. I nodded. "Did you sleep well?"

I sighed. "Its kinda hard to when you're suddenly in a huge city and have Beast Magic."

He shrugged and smiled slightly. "Yeah, the first couple nights were long for me too. But we should go. I'll show you to the stables and make sure you don't get lost." He winked. "Come on, Beast Mistress."

I groaned. "Aleusa, please."

"Whatever you say, Mistress." He winked again and left the room. I followed him, catching a bit of bread he tossed me as I came down the stairs.

The day was surprisingly warm for winter. Merlin walked next to me, and we chatted about nothing in particular. Mostly life back at home for bot of us. I was delighted to learn that he had come from a small village as well.

"Hello, Merlin. Who is this?" A pretty young lady with a basket over her arm stopped us.

"Oh, Gwen, this is Aleusa. Shes new to Camelot, and working in the stables. I'd say more, but we're going to be late!" I heard Gwen laugh as we walked quickly past. I glanced over my shoulder and waved at her. She waved back.

Samuel stood outside Wildfire's stall and looked on as I attempted to saddle the mare. Having never done so, it was quite the task. And since Samuel would not dare go into the stall, it was even more difficult.

"No, that strap goes through the buckle to the left." Samuel pointed, but it didn't do any good. There were more straps on this saddle than seemed possible. "Yeah, that's right. Now pull it tight, carefully. I don't Candle- I mean- Wildfire to bite you."

Would a horse bite me? With my magic and all? Wildfire turned her head to look at me. Her dark eyes seem to dare me to be stupid, as to see if the horse would put up with me. I smirked behind my hair and carefully tightened the cinch. Wildfire did not so much as twitch an ear back. As I was putting on her bridle with fumbling fingers, I heard the jangle of chain mail.

"Are the horses ready?" I strong voice demanded.

Samuel pulled away from the stall and bowed deeply. "It will only be a minute, my king." I drew a deep breath. The king! On my second day in Camelot! A second later, he appeared. I bowed very low.

"You're in there with Candlefire." It was more a question than a statement, but he said it as such.

"Yes, my king. He seems to have taken a liking to me."

"I hired her yesterday, father, when she stopped the horse from... well, killing me." Arthur stepped into view.

The deep lines in King Uther's face smoothed out slightly. "That is very good. Now, if you are ready?"

"Just a moment, my king." Samuel ducked into the stall. "Don't kill me," he muttered to the mare. She snorted. With quick, deft movements, Samuel finished putting the bridle on and tightened the girth. "She is ready, Prince Arthur."

Arthur entered the stables with a confident air. But as he neared, he began to eye Wildfire. Merlin peeked around the edge of the stall and gave me a cheerful wave. I smiled broadly at him, but turned my attention to the prince. He mounted without incident, but when he tried to exit the stall, Wildfire refused to move. King Uther sighed deeply. I bit my lip. Why did they even get the stubborn horse? Of all the horses in the kingdom? I sighed (very quietly) and walked over to Wildfire's head. I think the horse heard my sigh, because of a horse could glare, she was.

"Please, Wildfire, would you behave? Just for today?" I whispered in her ear. "For me?" Wildfire snorted and took a few steps out of the stall before stopping again. I pleaded her to move again, and she did, reluctantly. Until they reached the open doors of the stables.

"At least she isn't throwing him off this time," Merlin whispered in my ear. I ran a hand through my hair. "Or biting anyone who comes in range."

I closed my eyes briefly, fighting a minor headache in my temples. "How do I use it?" My voice was so low I could barely hear myself. Only Merlin would be able to hear the words. "The Beast Magic?"

"I don't know, sorry."

I sighed. Just then, George walked into the stables, the same smug look on his face. He rubbed against my legs until I picked him up and placed him on my shoulder. Merlin snickered. "What? He always sits there."
He just grinned his stupid grin. "Mistress."

Suddenly, the answer presented itself. Handing George to Merlin, I strode over to where Prince Arthur was trying to kick Wildfire forward. "My lord? May I try something?"

He sighed. "Might as well."

I walked to her head and looked deep into her eye, trying to find the bright light I had seen before. Like a flame, it glowed in the bottomless depth of her eye. I focused my thoughts on it. What do you want me to do? I am new to magic.

Lead me, Mistress.

The words sounded clearly in my head. The idea had not even crossed my mind, so I knew that they were the mare's. "I am going to try and lead her, my lord."

"Very well."

I wrapped one hand around the reins and gently tugged. "Come on, Wildfire." She set her feet. I glared at her and tugged harder. "Lets go." She snorted. Suddenly, my body acted of its own accord. My fingers tingled as I released the reins. My body turned and started walking toward the palace. Now, my entire body was tingling and a strange feeling grew in my core. Like someone had lit a candle inside of me. When I reached the wide marble stairs leading up to the palace, the tingling stopped and my body became my own to control again. But the little flame inside of me stayed. In fact, it seemed to grow a little. I continued walking, acting as if nothing had happened. As if magic had not just taken over my body. Resisting the urge to look back, I walked around the entire courtyard, listening in amazement to the steady clop of horse hooves behind me.

Only when I reached the stables again did I look back at Wildfire. And the bewildered Arthur on her back. Then I looked at the guards, grooms, King Uther, and Samuel all staring at me with the same expression. Merlin was doing his best to wide a smile.

"Somebody get that girl a horse." King Uther ordered.

Three hours later, I had to admit that I felt sorry for Prince Arthur. The horse they had given me was a small chestnut mare called Peanut. She was very calm and willing to put up with the first half hour of my fumbling around on her back. After that, riding felt natural. George sat in a saddlebag, as he refused to be left behind. Merlin rode next to me on his dark bay, still trying to hide his excited grin. I shot warning glances at him. If he was going to give away my secret, I just might be tempted to give away his. Our departure had been even later than planned, because Morgana had shown up as I was mounting Peanut, declaring that she and her handmaiden Gwen would accompany us. So the father and son hunting trip had swelled to a family outing (with three servants and guards accompanying).

The grooms in the stables had rushed to saddle horses for Morgana and Gwen. I felt a little guilty- just sitting there on Peanut, but as I watched them groom and saddle them in under five minutes, I realized I would just get in the way down there.

The trees grew up tall on either side of us. We had left the main road some time ago, and now followed a forgotten road through a valley. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a grey squirrel clamber up the trunk of a pine tree. Then, a robin landed on Peanut's neck. He chirped and cocked his head at me. The orange-red feathers on his throat pulsed. He gave a shrill trill, then flew away.

I glanced back over my shoulder at Prince Arthur. He slumped in the saddle, holding the reins loosely. Prince Arthur was riding a pack horse behind a young groom. I shifted my gaze to Wildfire. She seemed content to plod along behind me. "Prince Arthur?"

"What? What do you want?" His words were like ice.

I hesitated. "I- I was just wondering if you would like to try moving up next to me, and then perhaps up with King Uther?"

He blinked at me in surprise. "Right. Merlin, move out of the way." The sorcerer dropped back, making room for Prince Arthur, who took a deep breath and tapped Wildfire's flanks. "Come on." He muttered. The white mare was obedient. I hid a sigh of relief. "Ha! Look at that!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Try moving up in front of me, sire." I gestured with my head and smiled. Again, Wildfire was obedient. My smiled grew wider as Prince Arthur nudged her into a trot and rode up next to his father. Concentrating on the little candle in my core, I focused my thoughts on Wildfire.

Thank you. Carrots for you tonight.

You're welcome, mistress.

Suddenly, a large white stag jumped out into the road. It froze for a second before bounding into the woods. "After him!" King Uther declared. He spurred his horse into the trees, closely followed by Prince Arthur.

"Keep up, Merlin!" He shouted. Merlin grimaced a little and kicked his horse after the royal pair while dragging Prince Arthur's crossbow from his back. With a certain amount of crashing, half of the guards followed, leaving Morgana, Gwen, and I on the road. The guards that remained looked a little disappointed.

"Men," Morgana rolled her eyes. "Always trying to kill the most beautiful things." I silently agreed with her. I did not voice my opinion, however. Her icy beauty and hard eyes gave me the shivers. "Let us keep riding. They will catch up." George crawled out of the saddlebag and perched on my shoulder.

An hour later, they had not returned. Gwen and I were starting to get worried, but Morgana showed no emotion. Just as suddenly as the stag had appeared, the men appeared. Dozens of them. They surrounded us before the guards drew their swords. George hissed and dug his claws into my shoulder.

"What do you want?" Morgana asked, lifting her chin.

"Nothing more than your cooperation, Lady Morgana." A bearded man stepped forward. "Come with us, and we will spare these men's lives."

"I will not cooperate, not unless you tell me why you want me!"

"Then they die." The barbarians rushed forward with eager shouts, swords and spears swinging. First one guard, then another fell. A man stalked toward me, an evil grin on his face. I gasped and tried to back up, but another barbarian grabbed Peanut's bridle. The horse reared, trying to bite the man. Startled, I fell off. The man laughed. He took another step toward me, sword raised. With a hiss, George leapt onto the man's face.

"Bloody cat!" The man dropped his sword and wrestled George off of him, cursing. I scrambled to my feet. The man grabbed the scruff of George's neck and pulled him away, along with slices of his own face. George hissed and tried to attack again. Holding the cat at an arm's length, the man bent and retrieved his sword. With a smooth motion, he cut George in half.

I screamed and rushed the man, despite my lack of weapons. "How could you?" I beat his chest and face. Growling angrily, he grabbed my arms and pulled them behind me. I struggled to free myself, but he was too strong. He wrapped his arm around me and rested his sword on my neck.

"Keep struggling, and you'll join your precious cat!" I froze, breathing heavily. All the guards were dead. Gwen was being held by a man as I was, and Morgana sat on her horse in the middle of a ring of spears and swords. The seven guards lay strewn about, all dead. I drew a shuddering breath.

"Like I said, Lady Morgana. They will die." The man raised his voice. "Round up the horses and put the servants back on them. But tie their hands. I don't want any funny business." He glared at Gwen and I. "We must ride." The men jeered at us as they tied our hands tighter than strictly necessary. They seemed to take great pleasure in patting us as they lifted us back onto the horses. I felt like I was about to throw up. Once we were mounted, and several men had appropriated the guard's horses, we started to ride. I heard their leader speaking with Morgana. "I am sure you will be quite comfortable where we are taking you. Todenhin will be pleased to see that we have accomplished what others have failed to do. And he will be most pleased with the two serving girls as sacrifices."

Time for an Author's Note!

First off, HUGE thank you to everyone who favorited/ alerted/ reviewed! You guys are the best and encourage me to write :)

Secondly, I am making most of what happens during this Fan Fiction up. As of now, I have only watched the first 19 episodes (out of 39) of Merlin. So I'm part way through the second season. I am planning to write Aleusa into a few episodes, but none really spring to mind at the moment. Most of this will be original.

As I watch more, I might delve into writing Aleusa into one. For now, I'll steer clear.

Thanks again to everyone! Please review! I'll update faster... ;)