"So I'm guessing Merlin has magic," Gwaine said as they rode along, Gwen once again driving the cart, with Lancelot on one side and Gwaine on the other.
Gwen glanced at Lancelot, then back over at Gwaine who was watching them both closely. "I only mention it because it came up in conversation back there and no one seemed to notice."
"I'm sorry," Gwen said to him. "No one knew. It's been a well-kept secret."
"You knew," he pointed out.
"I only knew because Gaius told me two days ago," she protested. "I had no idea before that, and I've been friends with Merlin a lot longer than you have, believe me."
"And you knew as well, didn't you?" he called across to Lancelot. The other knight said nothing. "Oh come on," he said. "That druid said Merlin was a creature of magic, and you looked like someone had just told you there was soup for lunch. It certainly wasn't news to you."
"I found out by accident some time ago," Lancelot confessed.
"We didn't want to say anything because we thought we might be able to keep the secret," Gwen said. "Magic is outlawed in Camelot. If Uther were to find out the truth about Merlin, he'd burn him at the stake as a sorcerer."
"And you think I'm going tell Uther!" Gwaine protested, genuinely hurt.
"No, of course not!" she exclaimed. "But the more people that know, the more likely it is that the secret might come out. This isn't a little thing, Gwaine. Merlin's been using his magic to protect Arthur, and if anyone finds out it will change everything. They'd never be able to go back to the way they were before."
"Nah, it's okay," he interrupted her. "I'm mostly annoyed he didn't tell me himself."
"He didn't tell anyone," she assured him again. "He's been keeping this secret his whole life. Gaius told me he was born with magic. He must have been living in fear of people finding out ever since he was a child."
Gwaine grimaced, trying to imagine growing up with something like that constantly hanging over your head.
"So this dragon," Lancelot said, changing the subject. "Arthur fought it?"
Gwen spared Gwaine one more glance of concern then turned to her other friend. "Yes. It was being held captive by Uther underneath the palace for years, but it escaped and took its revenge on the kingdom, killing dozens of people. Arthur rode out to find the last dragon lord, the only person who could control a dragon. But he failed. The dragon lord died on the journey back, killed by Cenred's men. So Arthur rode out to face the dragon himself with just a small group of knights. We were told he had struck a mortal blow on the dragon, and that it had flown away to die."
"But no one saw its body?"
"No," she confessed. "We didn't question it though. The dragon's never been seen again."
"Wait wait wait wait," Gwaine said. "That druid guy said the dragon lived by the clemency of the last dragon lord, whatever the hell that means. But that implies there's a dragon lord still alive."
"Not according to Arthur. The man was killed. I don't know who the druids were talking about."
"But they also say the dragon isn't dead," Lancelot pointed out. "When you all believed it was killed by Arthur."
She shrugged. "I don't know what to believe any more," she said. "I've been told so many incredible things in the past few weeks my head's spinning. First Morgana turns out to be a sorceress, then she's Uther's daughter, then she's trying to bring down the kingdom, and now Merlin has magic and is this great person prophesied to help Arthur build a better kingdom. To be honest, I'd probably believe you if you said I could grow wings and fly like a fairy right now."
"There are fairies you know," Gwaine dropped in.
The other two looked at him.
"They're called the Sidhe," he said. "And they're nasty. You don't want to bump into one of those at the bottom of your garden."
"Something else you've seen in a tavern?" Lancelot asked caustically.
"No," he shot back angrily. "Not something I saw in a tavern."
Gwen finally lost her temper. "Can you two please stop it! We've got enough to worry about on this journey without you arguing! Let's just get to where we need to be and hope that the dragon can answer all our questions without killing us first."
TBC
