/ / / Mistaken Identity / / /

The voice woke her again. This time it spoke again, repeating her name to her when she was awake and Merlin realised it was coming from under her, under the very dungeons themselves. Before Merlin could work it out Gaius burst into the cell and Merlin pushed the strange voice from her head.

Merlin didn't know how regular people handled being in the stocks. She was able to deflect the ones that looked to be going to hit her in the eye or mouth as well as the fruit and vegetables that were not completely soft yet. Gaius was going to tell her off for doing magic but she needed to at least use a little spell to keep her cap on, if one of the children knocked it off her hair would reveal her as a woman and Gaius had said that the people of Camelot would be much less accepting of her dressing in men's clothes. The people of Ealdor had tried to convince her to act like a girl but she had never liked girly things and after a while they had given up accepting that she was just odd. Camelot appeared to be much more conservative and would probably give her more time in the stocks for her impropriety. Luckily the prince had been too distracted by her manner and words to see past the clothes, or at least Merlin assumed that the prince generally didn't invite a woman to fight with him nor send her to the dungeons. What's more Merlin had never made it down to Sarah's booth so she had no material to make some dresses. Merlin would never have thought anyone would think her a boy but from a distance with the clothes apparently Merlin could get away with it; admittedly she had received some scandalised looks from people who got too close. She just hoped she could get away with it long enough to get a dress made.

Merlin was laughing with the group of children who were pelting her with food when a beautiful woman came over to Merlin and smiled down at her.

"I'm Guinevere but most people call me Gwen. I'm the Lady Morgana's maid," the woman in red said in introduction and Merlin liked her immediately for more than just the fact she wasn't carrying any rotten fruit.

"Right, I'm Merlin." Merlin stuck out her hand to shake Gwen's. "Though most people call me idiot." Merlin said with a smile thinking that the list had extended now past Prince Arthur to include Gaius.

"No, no, I saw what you did. It was so brave."

"It was stupid." Merlin admitted, she should have just kept to herself but she could not have walked away from someone taunting anyone like that.

"Well I'm glad you walked away, you weren't going to beat him." Gwen said with certainty.

"Oh why? I could beat him." Merlin said defending herself.

"You think? Because you don't look like one of these big muscly fellows," Merlin looked up at Gwen surprised she thought she was a boy too? She was standing much too close to not see Merlin's face, she had never thought of her face as masculine but she supposed that if people saw men's clothes they just assumed.

"Thanks," Merlin said trying to work out if she should tell Gwen the truth or wait until she was wearing a dress and explain the mistake, she was nice and had come to speak to Merlin in the stocks but before she could say anything Gwen tried to fix it.

"No, no, I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just umm…that Arthur's one of those rough, tough, save the world kind of men. Well…" Gwen looked at Merlin.

"What?"

"You don't look like that," Gwen said her eyebrows squeezed together obviously thinking Merlin should have already known what she was going to say.

Merlin looked around and lifted and eyebrow to pull Gwen closer. "I'm in disguise."

Later Merlin would tell herself that if Gwen hadn't have laughed so hard she would have told the other girl the truth.

"Well it's great that you stood up to him."

"Really?" Gaius made it seem like everyone would question Merlin's mental faculties.

"Arthur's a bully and everyone thought you were a real hero."

"Oh yeah?" Merlin felt her chest expand; no one had ever thought her a hero or anything really but a strange girl. To hear someone say that about her made Merlin smile and look away which is when she saw the children coming back with more food and told Gwen she needed to get out of the way. Merlin might not like wearing dresses and she might be a terrible woman much preferring to go around dressed in men's clothes but even she knew that Gwen's red dress was pretty and did not deserve to be pelted with anything. As Gwen pulled away and Merlin smiled at her again the dark skinned woman stopped and frowned, she took a step back towards Merlin just as the first tomato flew at her head causing Gwen to stop and rush away shaking her head.

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