Chapter 15

He didn't know where else to go. Gaius, at least, would have some idea of hiding places and perhaps still had some of Merlin's old clothes. He couldn't keep wearing the same thing day after day, no matter how easily magic cleaned it. Besides, he missed him, his wise council, his endless tirades when Merlin had done something stupid, his gentle attempts to ease Merlin's misery, even that raised eyebrow of his.

Sneaking into Gaius's rooms was easy enough. Merlin had had plenty of practice over the years. He tried to be quiet about it He didn't want to startle the old man but he needn't have worried. Gaius knew him better than that. He was waiting for him.

"You are too predictable, my boy. If Arthur knew you were here, he'd kill you." The eyebrow was back, and Gaius looked both worried and exasperated.

"If he can catch me." Merlin gave Gaius a little smile, then sat down, reaching for an apple. He hadn't eaten for a while; game had been scarce and all Merlin had had on the way back to Camelot were a few berries and some wild mushrooms. Gauis, frowning a bit, found some left-over bread and a bit of meat and thrust it into Merlin's waiting hand. Munching away, trying not to shovel everything in his mouth at once, he said, "I'll need a place to stay, preferably one that Arthur doesn't know about."

When Gaius just gave him another sour look, Merlin said, "I'm done with hiding. I just don't want to implicate you. Arthur might not be his father but he's being an idiot at the moment."

"Besides the dragon's cave, there is a small storeroom rarely used, under the castle. I doubt they'd look there." Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, Gaius said, "But I don't know what you hope to accomplish. If anything were to change Arthur's mind, it would have been your help with the wounded when the wall collapsed."

"I know. Percy warned me that to return was to be executed." Finishing off the last of the bread, Merlin just shrugged. "Don't worry so much, Gaius. I'm just going to show Arthur the beauty of magic and not get killed in the process. How hard can that be?"

Gaius just let out another sigh and shook his head.


Rain came in the night, heavy enough to create large puddles here and there amongst the cobblestones, but by morning, the clouds were gone, the air was fresh and cool, the sky above a perfect blue. Merlin, hidden among the trees, waited nearby until people were awake and milling about, doing their morning shopping, gossiping with neighbours, the knights beginning to walk toward the training ground. In the distance, he could see Percival talking with Sir Leon. Before Camlann, Arthur would have been there, too, but he was nowhere in sight.

It didn't matter. Arthur would hear about it soon enough.

"Anhornas, læce."

As the water in the puddles began to rise, forming fantastical shapes in the sunlight, a herd of unicorns seemed to dance in the air. Soaring, diving back into the puddles and then coming out again as if joyful, flying past each other, nuzzling and laughing and tossing their manes, they were bright and clear as crystal.

In the street, there was sudden silence, the townspeople staring at the sight, frozen in disbelief. But then there was a shock of laughter as the children, those whose parents could not grab them fast enough, surged forward, trying to grab onto the shapes, shouting happily when they caught a unicorn, giggling as the water soaked them through. Dissolving, then reforming into smaller shapes, the unicorns seemed to dance away and up again, playful as they soared over the youngsters' heads.

It only lasted a moment or two. Then growing louder, wails of frustrated children began to rise, as one by one they were yanked back, away from the sight, their parents clamouring about the dangers, the rest of the townsfolk arguing among themselves about who could have caused such a thing. Distant but growing were the sounds of chainmail clattering down the hill and the shrill of swords being drawn.

Still hidden, he knew that he didn't want an innocent to be accused of magic but he didn't want to be caught just yet, either.

As the knights neared the lower gate, Merlin stepped forward, making sure that he'd be identified. He was still far enough away that they'd not be able to reach him quickly. But as he cleared the trees, they wheeled toward him.

Raising his hand, he gestured toward the flying unicorns. "Behwierfaþ." And with a bright flash of his eyes, the shapes morphed into words. Magic is beautiful, it said. Floating high above their heads, not even a sword could touch it, the water sparkled as bright as sunshine before slowly dissolving into mist.

The knights were already closing on him, clamouring up the hill towards Merlin.

It was time to go.

With a quick gesture, Merlin slowed their movements, manipulating time as only he could, and then turned, hurried into the castle undercroft. Behind him another flick of magic, and the opening disappeared.


Merlin might be the greatest sorcerer ever born but conjuring up dinner was something he wasn't good at, and he hadn't thought about the long hours between the knights trying to find him and all the fuss dying down. His stomach growling, he considered sneaking into the storeroom above the kitchen and stealing some bread and a few sausages, but thought better of it. He'd hate to be caught for something so trivial.

Besides he was lonely.

Of course, Gaius was a mind-reader. He had supper waiting, a veritable feast of herb-encrusted chicken and soft bread and berry tarts, their crusts glittering with sugar. It made his mouth water just looking at it all.

But there was a price to be paid for such bounty. Gaius and his eyebrow were both glowering at him. "You are an idiot."

Mouth full of butter-slathered bread, he couldn't well argue the point. He had been a bit of a fool in not planning for some basic necessities other than a hiding place. But then he'd hoped that Arthur would have accepted magic a lot sooner, too.

"You can't come here every night. Arthur tends to sweep in at odd hours, sometimes for no reason, and if he catches you… well, blood is hard to get out of the stones and my knees aren't what they used to be."

"I won't." Wiping his mouth clean, Merlin gave Gaius a little grin. "Don't worry so much. I'll be careful. Besides I've gold enough and if I can't buy food, I'll steal it and leave payment behind." Then he stopped, frowning. "Wait… Arthur comes here? Why? I thought he was ignoring you and with the new physician…."

"He does ignore my advice, Merlin, especially about magic. And any mention of your name brings disfavour." Piling Merlin's empty plate on top of his own and standing, starting to tidy up a bit, Gaius said, "But sometimes he'll come in, look around a bit; he might even have an excuse, a question about something said in council or whatever happened in the lower town that day. He doesn't listen to the answer, though, just gets a far-away look in his eyes, then scowls and leaves."

It would seem that Arthur and he were not so different after all.

With every beat of his heart, Merlin's instincts were to go to Arthur, to beg him to understand and take him back, to return to what they'd had before it all went to hell. He'd fought it, so very much, and yet he'd almost ended up in Arthur's chambers earlier in the day. As though his heart were telling him to return to the centre of his world and nothing else mattered, not even his own life.

He'd only come to his senses a few corridors away. Luckily, he hadn't met any guards.

All the way to Gaius's rooms, it had felt as though he'd lost Arthur all over again. Forever out of reach.

"I miss him. So much."

Gaius's hand was warm on his shoulder, a balm against the grieving chill. "I'm sure he misses you, too."

Sending him a little smile, twisted and sad, Merlin stood, and taking the plates out of Gauis's hand, he went over to the bucket of wash water. A whisper of magic and the dishes were in clear, hot water, cleaning themselves while Merlin watched.

Behind him, Gaius was not amused. In a sharp, exasperated voice, he said, "We've talked about this. What if Arthur were to come?"

Merlin turned around, remembering other times when Gaius was less than happy with him using magic, not the recent ones but long ago when he'd first come to Camelot. It felt good, a sweet memory and he savoured it a moment. "It will be fine. We'll hear him coming. He always was a bit loud. Yelling about something or other that I'd done wrong. Stomping around, making sure everyone pays attention to him. Only time he was quiet was when we were hunting and then I was the one scaring off the game."

He shrugged off the sudden melancholy. It wasn't helping, and he was here for some cheering up after all. Merlin said, "Did you like my unicorns? I was pretty proud of how they turned out. I thought Arthur might remember our adventure to Gedref and soften just a bit. The children certainly liked them."

"And their parents were terrified." Gaius scowled at him. "You do realise that magic isn't going to be accepted in a day."

"I know. I was thinking that…"

Gaius stilled, his hand raised. Outside, footfalls were hurrying fast toward his chambers, someone with chainmail. Merlin could hear the distant clatter echoing up.

He was already running for his old room as Gaius said, "Someone's coming."

It was a near thing. As he retreated behind the door of his old room, Arthur came striding in. Luckily he must not have seen the dishes because he didn't even flick a glance their way. And while he wasn't paying attention, Merlin gestured them slowly into the water and out of sight.

All puffed up in anger, looking as if he were ready to kill someone if they breathed wrong, Arthur snapped, "Where is he?"

From the crack in the door, Merlin could see Gaius standing firm, not at all intimidated by Arthur's wrath. He merely blinked at him, looking confused with the question. "Who, my lord?"

"Emrys!"

Merlin had been at the short end of Arthur's bellowing before, many times if truth be told, but this was the first he'd seen him shouting at Gaius. It wasn't right. But the old man must have had years of experience with Uther's tirades, and while Arthur was livid, he wasn't his father.

Gaius just stood there, steady as a rock in a storm-savaged sea. "My lord?"

That only made Arthur angrier. "Don't!" Face knotted into ferocity, looking as out of control as Merlin had ever seen him, Arthur stepped closer. One hand rested on his sword hilt, the other raised, finger pointed right at Gaius's face, his voice cold and cutting as a blade, he said, "I know you, Gaius. You were the lying face of magic for years, helping to keep… secrets from me. I won't have it." He towered over him, growled out, "Where is he?"

"I don't know, sire." For a heartbeat, he didn't say anything else, likely waiting to see what Arthur would do, but when he just glared at the old man, Gaius seemed to shrink in. He didn't back down, but he gave the impression of innocence, of trying and failing to accommodate his king. Even his voice was tremulous. "What has he done?"

If looks could kill, Gaius would have been nothing but smoking ash. Arthur stood there, breathing hard, his sword hand tight on the hilt, his other clenching and unclenching as if he were trying to hold back hitting him.

Finally he said, "Made me look a fool. Evading my knights as if it were child's play."

Gaius nodded, slow and steady, humming a little as if in thought. "Rumour has it he made the children laugh. It would seem child's play was his goal."

For a moment, staring at him, Arthur looked as if he'd been poleaxed. Then turning an unlovely shade of fury, he slapped one hand on the table. The sound of it echoed savage-sharp in the room.

"Do not mock me, Gaius."

When Gaius said nothing else, Arthur scowled at him. "He's turned my compassionate gesture into a travesty. He'll pay the price once I get my hands on him. If he knows what's good for him, he'll be long gone before then."

Gaius merely nodded. "That would seem the wisest course."

"If I find that you've been helping him, I won't be… so understanding." Still breathing hard, still radiating a kind of frustrated anger that could quickly morph to violence, Arthur turned away, started for the door. Then he slowed, stopped, his throat working as he glanced around for a brief moment, his eyes flicking to Merlin's door and seeming to deliberately look away again. Almost to himself, he said, "It was something he'd do and I won't…."

Then he must have realised where he was and what he was saying. Pulling himself out of whatever hell he'd been driven into, Arthur turned back into fury. "If you see Emrys, tell him if I find him, he's a dead man."

And with that, he stomped out of the room.

Merlin waited a while, thinking that Arthur might return but as his footsteps faded away, he came out. Standing next to Gaius, both gazing at the closed door, Merlin said, "That went well."

"It would seem that Arthur is unhappy with unicorns."

"He wasn't that happy with them last time, either." When Gaius gave a little hum of disapproval, Merlin rolled his eyes. He wasn't that young boy anymore, although sometimes he still felt that way. "I wonder how he'd react to butterflies."

Beside him, Gaius just grunted.

Chapter 16

The butterflies worked out well. The children were shrieking in delight and the parents weren't nearly as worried, just watched for signs of trouble; there were even smiles on some of the faces.

The knights' attempts to capturing the butterflies were the stuff of legend or at least of farce. They didn't seem to understand that swords were not the best weapons of choice, and when someone finally thought to bring a net, the butterflies just vanished and popped up again somewhere else. When Gwen came out to see what the fuss was about, her hair was decorated with them, purple and blue and gold, and she didn't object, seemed instead to enjoy it if the pink in her cheeks was any sign.

It was only when Arthur showed up, scowl set, shouting, that Merlin disappeared back into the hillside.

After that, Merlin stepped up the pace. At least twice a day, he'd magic something into the air, either in the lower town or inside the citadel. Roses bloomed around the throne one day, then there were a dozen rainbows over the gate with nary a cloud in sight. Several times, the torches in the courtyard would dance, bright and beautiful in the firelight, or candles burn with messages of hope. Then there were smoke shapes and swords turning into bouquets of flowers, and once, an acrobatic show using globes of light.

But it wasn't all fun. A home caught fire, cooking oil spilled, and Merlin called down the rain to put it out. A broken wagon wheel, and there was Merlin to help lift it free. The citadel wall was still weak; one time he managed to hold back the stones while the workers scattered out of reach, and then let the boulders fall into an empty field.

He'd almost got caught a couple of times, too, either he was focusing on what he was doing — he couldn't very well let the stones fall on innocent heads — or else the knights were figuring out where he was sneaking into and out of the castle. That was a close call.

But as the nights lengthened and Samhain grew close, Merlin was starting to be concerned.

Arthur was still stubborn as only the clotpole could be. Even the townspeople were beginning to accept that magic might not be all that bad but Arthur was an immovable force. He'd posted bounties on Emrys' head, first ten gold pieces, then a hundred, and it was now up to five hundred gold pieces, a life's fortune for most. And Merlin wasn't sure that even the most honourable wouldn't be tempted. Then, too, there were bounty hunters starting to arrive in Camelot.

It was getting worrisome.

But it wasn't the bounty or Merlin's near misses or even butterflies that brought things to a head.

It was a dog.

A very large dog with glowing eyes, and a taste for human flesh — who could only be defeated with magic.


Merlin knew there was something wrong the moment a thunder of horses' hooves roared out of the courtyard. He'd not started the day's magic performances; to be honest, he wasn't exactly inventive and he was running out of ideas, well at least out of ideas that wouldn't be misconstrued.

But a moment later, as Merlin stood on the hill overlooking the citadel, Arthur and several of his knights burst through the gate, the clatter of swords and mail echoing in their wake, and they turned eastward, toward the Forest of Aescetir. They did not even glance in his direction.

It looked serious.

It also didn't take long to find out what was going on.

Over the past several days, he'd been deliberately ignored, not by the guards, of course, or the knights searching for him, but by the townspeople. He could walk through the lower town and there were always whispers behind him, of the king's justice, of when things might change. But no one approached him; they were unwilling to get directly involved with a sorcerer, but the attitude seemed to be that it wasn't their business if he overheard something they said, that they could not be blamed for it.

And loudly-spoken gossip travelled very fast.

Talk of magic and a hound of hell were already peppering the air when he arrived. Several townspeople were giving him side-ways glances, looking as if they were either blaming him for the magical threat or else waiting to see how he'd deal with the situation. For that he needed more information, not just gossip.

Gaius, as always, knew everything.

"The people of Greenswood were attacked by a huge hound. White in colour with red ears and eyes, it seemed to target humans. Livestock was left alone. Arthur has gone to kill it before it attacks again. But…," Gaius paused, looking pale and unhappy. Pointing down to a book open to a drawing of a large, vicious dog, he said, "The hound may well be one of the Cwn Annwn, and if so, nothing but magic can defeat it."

Merlin had almost expected this kind of thing. It had been too quiet of late.

"Normally, they run in packs, chasing after wrong-doers and hunting them down — or so the legends go. Those in the area know enough to stay clear of them, even welcome them at times to chase off criminals. But this hound appears to be an aberration, alone and attacking anyone it can find."

"And Arthur expects to defeat this creature with sword and sinew alone." When Gaius nodded, Merlin said, "Is its bite fatal?"

"It can be. There may be poison in its fangs, although the legends are not clear on that point, but more importantly it will tear a man to shreds if cornered." As Merlin started to turn away, getting ready to go after Arthur, Gaius stopped him. "Merlin, it is said that the Cwn Annwn are associated with the Sidhe."

Fury took him a moment but when Merlin was able to breathe again, he said, "Do you think they sent it to kill Arthur?"

Gaius didn't answer right away. Staring down at the drawing and then back at Merlin, he seemed unsure. "Samhain is almost upon us and Arthur has shown no indication of changing his mind about magic. It might be that they are trying to force your hand."

Wanting to smash something in frustration but knowing it wouldn't do any good, Merlin said, "As if I wasn't already doing everything I could."

"The hound can be killed with magic. If you can get there in time…." Merlin was already rushing away, grabbing onto Gaius's medical bag as he went. He'd been trained in physician's arts, too, and Merlin didn't remember seeing anyone with expertise riding with Arthur as he left Camelot. "You'd better hurry. They've an hour head-start on you."

As he opened the door, Merlin shouted back, "I'll steal a horse."

Gaius's voice faded into the distance as Merlin took the stairs, two at a time. "Steal a fast one."