Disclaimer Merlin does not belong to me. :(

A Woman's Work?

Gwen marched through the cold stone corridors of the castle, worried sick about Arthur and the others. She knew Merlin was probably more aware of the dangers they faced than the rest of them. She couldn't shake the feeling her knew more about Morgana and her powers than he had told any of them. She barralled into Gaius as she took the corner that would lead her to the stone staircase.

"Oh!" Gaius grabbed her by the shoulders as he tried to stop the pair of them falling down the stairs.

"Sorry." Gwen offered him a shy smile.

"What on Earth is it?" He frowned at her as she took a deep breath. "Is Moira ok? What on Earth has got into you?"

"She's fine. I left her with Uther in the Throne Room." Gwen took another deep breath. "The Tocla. It's the Tocla."

"Gwen." Gaius smiled kindly. "The stuff of children's stories."

"I know but I am certain they are the cause of this."

"Are you?" Gaius sighed heavily. "Well, how would they be invoked?"

"Oh come on Gaius." Gwen huffed. "You know as well as I do the majority of these tales come from some semblence of fact. It is possible. You have to admit it." He nodded slowly as he tried to think of an appropriate reply.

"Someone would have to be a very powerful witch or warlock to invoke this. Can you think of anyone that powerful?" He instantly regretted the words.

"Oh yes." Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Yes I can."

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"Arthur." Merlin walked next to his friend as they led the horses along the forest path. The darkness was begining to worry him even more. The density of the trees gave it an even more sinister feel. Arthur paused as he followed Percy's gaze.

"Oh my."

"Oh yes." Gwaine looked up through the trees where the first ray of sunshine they had seen in over fortyeight hours had broken through the foliage.

"Daylight." Arthur stated unnecessarily. "Daylight."

"Yeah." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Which means?" Leon narrowed his eyes as he realised how far they had got from the boundaries of the Kingdom.

"That it really is just Camelot that has been affected." Merlin answered. "Question is, who would want to do this and why now?"

"Now?" Elyan yawned as he joined is friends. "Probably has something to do with it now being common knowledge that Arthur is in charge and Uther is a figurehead."

"He is not just a figure head." Arthur snapped.

"And that the relationship between Gwen and Arthur has changed." Leon added.

"Could be." Merlin replied as he thought about the darkness. "I still say the 'who' is Morgana."

"She is not that powerful." Arthur tried to ignore the comments about him and Gwen. The thought that the darkness could be anything to do with her made him feel physically sick. He closed his eyes for a moment. "So, the darkness only affects Camelot."

"Seems so. "Leon sighed.

"Morgana is powerful enough to do it. You know her and Morguse brought back Lancelot to destroy you and Gwen?"

"Almost worked." Elyan scowled.

"That was more down to my stupidity." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the memory. He still couldn't believe he had reacted so badly. "If I could go back."

"If wishes were horses." Merlin sighed as he took a few steps forward, aware that Gwaine was just behind him. The others were deep in conversation as they tried to work out where they were going and what they were going to do next.

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"The Tocla are the stuff of nightmares." Gwen sat at Gaius' oak table as he worked away around her.

"My mother told me stories of them."

"And mine." Gwen smiled as she remembered the blacksmith's wife. Her mother had died as a young woman, when Gwen was the same as Moira. "And she also taught me it was a curse brought upon kingdoms as punishment for not seeing the beauty of the daylight."

"The Tocla are not just children's tales." Gaius poured a green liquid into a goblet before adding a few herbs and shaking his head.

"Then what are they?" Gwen leant forward, glad that Moira was busy talking to Uther. Since the King had suffered a breakdown Moira had taken it upon herself to spend some of her time looking after him, which meant she would tell him all about her day and the lessons she learnt as time went on.

"They are summoned from the ether by great magicks. They sap the light out of a kingdom and drag the hope out of it's people. It has been known for it to focus on one person. I'd take Morgana's warning seriously. If she means to harm you, the fact that she has engineered for Arthur and your friends to be away means she now has means to do so."

"No Gaius." Gwen got to her feet, determined not to let the old man see how angry she was. "She doesn't."

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A/N Will the Tocla take Gwen? What will the boys do and where is Morgana hiding? Please review.