"These council chambers really need numbering." Merlin muttered as he ran through the castle trying to find the right one; he had already been into about five rooms(and a broom cupboard but we won't go into that) and he was hoping to find where he was meant to be soon.

He heard voices from behind a door up ahead 'finally' he thought as he slipped through the door inconspicuously and took his place next to Gaius.

After he had given the Druid his mouth back Arthur had found out and was now back to questioning him.

"You know who Emrys is?" Asked Arthur.

"Yes."

"But you're not going to tell us?"

"No."

"What if I promised not to hurt him?"

"Will you?"

"No."

"Well there you go then. You shouldn't hurt Emrys, especially after all he's done for you. Not only saving your life but making you the man you are today. If it weren't for him you'd still be a prat."

"Oh for goodness sakes." Merlin muttered under his breath earning him an elbow in the ribs from Gaius. "Ow."

"Be quiet then."

Merlin nodded and turned his attention back to Arthur, "Leon write that down." Leon nodded and added the new information to the list that they were compiling on Emrys. "Even if you don't tell us his name you'll give away enough information soon enough and then we'll get him."

"To be honest I'm surprised you haven't already I mean I've given you enough details even if it has been accidental. He certainly thinks I have given that he's shut me up twice by knocking me out or sticking my mouth together."

"He did that?"

"No I did it to myself," he said sarcastically, "Of course it was him!"

"But how? No one in the room said anything..."

"He doesn't need to say incantations aloud, the only way you'd be able to tell if he was doing magic would be when his eyes glow gold." He quickly slapped a hand to his mouth.

"Eyes glow gold when doing magic." Murmured Leon writing it down.

"Thank you." Said Arthur smugly.

Merlin rolled his eyes but didn't do anything yet.

"That wasn't really anything helpful to be honest, all people with magic's eyes glow when they do magic. Now if I told you that his father was Balinor then- damn."

"Balinor? The last dragonlord? But he didn't have son."

"When he fled Camelot about twenty years ago he left Camelot's borders and met a woman in E-" but the Druid didn't finish his sentence as he yelled and clutched his head.

Gaius looked at Merlin who just twiddled his thumbs and avoided his gaze.

The Druid calmed eventually but through the form of passing out.

"Alright Emrys we get it, you don't want us to know where you're from." Arthur sighed and motioned for the guards to take away the the unconscious man.

Only thirty seconds after the doors had shut they opened again to reveal Howard being dragged in by two guards.

"We found him sire, he was heading back towards his own village." One of them said.

"Let him go," said Arthur, "Your name has been cleared Harold you are free to go and - should you want it - your job is still there."

"Thank you my lord," said Howard, "But my name is still Howard."

Gwaine burst out laughing at his servant's words and moved over to clap him on the back. The two left together leaving Arthur looking suitably embarrassed.

"He has potential." said Merlin.

"For what? To be as annoying as you?"

"Well there's got to be some reason Gwaine likes him." Arthur shook his head and they also left, the remaining council members took this as their dismissal.

-In the library-

Leon flicked through the pages of the records he was looking at. Balinor had been forced into hiding meaning that the knights must have found him, if this was so then where he was must have been written down. He soon found the right page and quickly scanned the report. He gasped as he found the name of the village.

He only knew one person from Ealdor, and he was the right age.

But it couldn't be could it? Merlin couldn't be Emrys.

He pulled out his list and began to work his way through it.

It all fit. It made sense. Every bit of information they had got from the Druid could point to one person.

How had they missed that?


I finished this story today! There are going to be nine chapters and an epilogue.

I also realised that I've kind of forgotten about Percival but managed to bring Lancelot back to life so for the purposes of this story let's say that it was Percival that walked through they veil 'k?

*insert request for reviews and whump! help*

Now I can move on to finishing some of my other stories (starting with role reversal) although I'll have to do it quickly before the plot bunnies eat me...

I'm going to do an update a day for this story unless I suddenly feel really generous :)