Yep, don't own, just for the fun of it. This chapter surprised me, but it seemed so natural that it petty much wrote itself.

The Dragon's Call – Part 3

"You have kept the young warlock from me for too long, Gaius," the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah, huffed as he settled on his perch inside the cavern underneath the castle.

From long practice, Gaius moved is torch so it would not blow out from the dragon's mighty breathe. "You know I had no choice in the matter."

"Yet now Merlin is aware of his power. You must bring him to me."

"Not now," Gaius braved. Despite the fact that Kilgharrah was chained, he knew how swiftly the dragon's wrath could be delivered.

"Gaius , you try my patience. He needs to know the truth of his powers. Still, he hears me not."

"But he has only had a day. He needs time to adjust," Gaius explained. "He is frightened of magic. What he could possible do. When he is more settled, I will send him to you. I promise. But until then, you must continue to be patient."

For a moment the wild yellow of the dragon's eyes whirled with fury and Gaius prepared to make a dash to the staircase. A minute passed and the dragon slumped in defeat. "Uther has already changed his course for many years; I suppose I can wait one more day. But remember this, Gaius, Merlin's fate cannot be changed, not by any potion bottle, and not by any pretended father."

This brought Gaius to the crux of the matter, his greatest fear. "I demand an oath from you. You must promise me that Merlin will not learn of his parentage from you."

"Who he believes his father to be, means nothing to me. It only helps the Once and Future King that Merlin already loves him as a brother."

Gaius knew that was as much as he was going to get from the irascible dragon. Age and too much time beneath the castle had turned the already temperamental creature cantankerous. "Then I give you my word I will send him to you."

"See that you do," and with that, the Dragon leaped into the air, disappearing into shadow.

Gaius mounted the stairs one at a time, feeling the ache in his old bones. He was so engrossed in his latest conversation with the dragon, that he nearly missed Merlin until the boy almost plowed into him.

"Oh, um, sorry, Gaius," he muttered.

Exasperated, the physician asked, "What are you doing down here?"

"I was in the dungeon."

"Whatever for?"

He turned his head down, his lips quirking at the end as though he found something funny and new he should not. "I sort of got in a duel with Arthur."

Gaius cocked one grey eyebrow. "What happened?"

"He was being an arse and I was angry after what you told me. I was stupid." He went still and leaned in close to Gaius. "I used magic. I didn't mean to," he said, catching Gaius' frustration. "It just sort of happened. Arthur didn't see anything. Didn't even suspect, really."

The old man had to restrain from slapping his secret nephew upside the head. The boy had known of his magic for less than a day and he was already using it in front of his brother. He might have actually followed his desire, if Merlin hadn't looked so utterly frightened and contrite about the whole experience.

"Gaius, what if I accidently use it, tonight, at the celebration? What if I hurt somebody?"

"You must focus, Merlin. Your magic is like breathing to you, you can do it without thinking, but you can also learn to control your breathing. Do you understand?" Merlin gave a shaky nod. "What did you feel when you used it on Arthur?"

"Tingling, warmth. It doesn't feel bad, Gaius. It feels good. Maybe too good," Merlin said, his thoughts trailing off. "I don't know what to do."

"Right now, it seems to be connected to your emotions. Anything that startles you or angers you and it reacts. Try to remain calm."

"Of course, Gaius, thank you." Merlin gripped his arm, gratitude shining in his blue eyes. "You don't know what it means to me to have your guidance."
Gaius nodded but said nothing. He loathed that only half the secret had been revealed. Merlin deserved to know the truth about everything. But he feared the consequences. Especially, considering how volatile Merlin's magic was right now. Anything that truly upset him might take down the castle walls. No one, not even the Great Dragon, knew how truly powerful he would become.

He certainly didn't want to throw the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders while he was still adjusting to the fact that magic wasn't necessarily evil. Merlin's belief right now was that he'd be corrupted or that somehow it would invariably hurt the ones he loved. Until that changed, Gaius didn't know how he was supposed to send the boy to Kilgharrah.

"I must see Morgana, Gaius. Could we talk about this later? Tonight once everyone has gone to sleep?"

"Of course, Merlin."

Morgana gave her bed a longing look. The night had been filled with tossing and turning and shadows lingering in the darkness of her dreams. She longed to catch up on the sleep she'd lost in the last couple of days, but she had missed the execution today, only barely managing to avoid Uther's wrath by using Merlin, she doubted she could miss Lady Helen's performance tonight.

Maybe she could convince Merlin to fake ill and they could spend the night together. But no, there were rumors already buzzing around the court that the two princes had been fighting and that the king had thrown them in the dungeon. Why Merlin had wanted to get his brain's bashed in instead of spending time with her, she did not know.

"What would you like to wear tonight, m'lady?" Gwen asked, coming up from behind her.

"My sleep clothes," she joked with a grin.

"I doubt the King would approve," Gwen said, grabbing the brush from her nightstand and working at her hair. "But Prince Merlin might."

Morgana blushed and slapped at Gwen playfully. "Don't give him ideas, Gwen."

"I'm not sure Merlin would know what to do with such an idea," Gwen muttered.

This time Morgana giggled. "He's not that bad, but you're probably right." She stifled a yawn.

"Do you want me to fetch you a sleeping draft from Gaius?"

Morgana frowned. She was tired of those old remedies. She was just plain tired. Once she got some sleep, she wouldn't be such a grouch. "No thank you, Gwen. I'm sorry, I got us side-tracked. Will you get me the red dress?"

"The red dress it is."

A knock sounded at her bedroom door and with a knowing smile Gwen opened it to reveal Merlin. "I'll give you two a few minutes."

"Thanks, Gwen."

"Really, Merlin, sticking up for servants and fighting with Arthur. I think you're trying to make every serving girl Camelot swoon over you," she jibed with a smirk.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Gwen does not have a crush on me." He cross the room to where she sat at her dressing table and held out his hands. She took them and helped her to a standing position. "Besides there's only one girl for me."

Morgana looked up at his thin, chiseled face. "Do I know her?"

He cupped her cheek with a long-fingered hand. "I believe so." He leaned down and kissed her gently. Her arms went up to hug around his chest. She cursed how tall he was.

When they broke apart, Morgana leaned her head against his chest and Merlin rested his chin on her head. "I shouldn't stay long," he said. "I've got to go welcome Lady Helen or I might not live long enough to see our betrothal actually end in a wedding."

Morgana had been betrothed to Merlin since she'd been twelve –years-old. Her father, Gorlois, and the king had seen an opportunity to seal their families together and solidify their friendship. The kingdom had been overjoyed y the news. Morgana had been less than thrilled. Although she had known Merlin all her life, having someone else decide who she was going to love had been strictly against her young romantic heart.

It wasn't until Gorlois was killed in battle and Uther had brought his future daughter-in-law to Camelot that Morgana began to feel a change in the way she thought of Merlin. Between her nightmares and his bouts of illness, they had spent a lot of nights and early morning together talking.

It was then that Merlin had told her that he'd loved her since the first time he'd seen her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. "Gwen said that you had a horrible headache this morning."

"I'm fine," he said, giving her a bright grin. "Gaius gave me a draft and I'm right as rain."

"I'm glad, though I was hoping we could use your illness to miss the performance tonight. Not that I see anything to celebrate. A man practices magic, not matter the reason, and he's executed. And how do we react, we throw a banquet."

Abruptly, Merlin turned away from her. "Can we talk about anything other than magic today? Or how my father's becoming a tyrant?"

"What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly concerned.

"Nothing," he said too quickly.

Morgana shook her head. "I know you too well, Merlin. You've never lied to me. Now tell me, what's troubling you?"
"I don't know. It's a lot of things. I've made bad choices today and I'm tired and sore. And I realized that things in my life are not going the way I want them to, that I'm not the kind of person I want to be. I'm not even sure who I want to be anymore."

She froze under his tirade, not sure where all this was coming from. But she could see the pain his eyes. "Okay, it's fine. This is a magic free day. Now come here and rest with me for a minute before you have to leave and Gwen comes to get me ready for tonight."

He allowed her to drag him over to the bed, where she snuggled up to his side and pulled his arms around her. It wasn't very long before she felt her fatigue take over and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Merlin gave a breathy chuckle next to her ear. "Are you asleep?'

"No," she murmured.

He rubbed her back and his full, firm lips kissed her forehead. "Bad dreams?"

"Hm," she answered.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"If only you could stay with me while I slept tonight," Morgana tightened her grip on him.

"Soon, I hope. Once Father has cooled down, I'll talk to him about it," he promised. "Are you sure about this, Arthur's still available."

She dug a finger into his side. "Do not even joke, Merlin. The very idea gives me chills. There is only one prince I'll be marrying and it is not a blonde prat."

They stayed like that for several minutes, Morgana fading in and out of consciousness, feeling safe in Merlin's arms. She was never asleep long enough for the nightmares to take hold but she could see fits and starts. And it was long enough to bring back the memory of last night's nightmares.

She bolted up in her bed, panic taking hold of green eyes.

"Morgana, what is it? Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Merlin asked, holding her by her shoulders now.

It was crazy. It was just a dream, but she remembered the fear, the very real fear. And if it wasn't a dream, Arthur would die tonight. "Merlin. I remember my nightmare."

She was trembling now and Merlin put an arm around her, allowing her to rest against his chest. "Morgana, you're scaring me. Tell me what's happening."

"My dream," she said, turning around in Merlin's arms. "In my dream, I saw Arthur die tonight, Merlin. You have to keep close to him tonight, Merlin."

His eyes narrowed on her, a light of understanding blazing. "It's okay, Morgana, I understand. It's okay. I won't let anything happen to Arthur." He hugged her close, running a hand through the waves of her dark hair. "Shush, now. Try to get some sleep and I'll stay and chase the nightmares away."

She watched as he closed his eyes and his brow furrowed in concentration. Strangely enough, she did feel better, the fear a distant echo and sleep a balm against her mental wounds.