Magic Revealed

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Arthur asked as he looked at the small gathering in the Main Hall.

It was…everyone, save Mordred and Kara, who had revealed themselves to have magic to the people only a few short days ago. It was all anyone had been talking about throughout the kingdom, how the queen had magic, how the king's sister and the queen's brother had magic, how their own physician and two of their knights had magic. It was alarming to Arthur and it made him very worried that it might grow into an uproar about it. The way it had come about hadn't been planned, not at all, but…in a way he was relieved it had, just as Morgana had been.

He wanted a kingdom where his son and daughter could run about and not fear that accidently using magic would earn them death. He wanted a kingdom where they'd be accepted. They hadn't quite told the people that William and Rosaline had magic, but he was quite sure that by now they'd assumed as much or were suspicious of it. He was worried about letting them out alone among the children as had always been the plan for once the kingdom knew about the magic returning, but he wasn't sure what the people's temperament and feelings for the tool might be. They had seemed in quite a state of shock and they were trying to give the people a few days to come to terms with the fact that they HAD seen the king's family using magic and that the king himself had allowed it, had clearly BEEN allowing it for years before the laws were changed.

He hoped it wouldn't shatter their trust in him to learn that.

It was one reason why Merlin, of all people, was so intent to see their new plan happen. Gathered before him were Merlin, Morgana, and Marayna, Leon and Gaius standing to the side. Leon, after revealing that he as well had magic, had gone to see Gaius, to talk to him now that he could do so. Gaius had noticed Leon asking a few questions here and there about Merlin and Marayna as they grew older and grew within Camelot, but he'd thought it was just a knight trying to come to terms with it all. Now he realized it was Leon trying to find an adult, a father figure who understood. Leon and Arthur had always been close growing up, had trained together, but had also been watched by Uther. Uther had no idea about Leon's magic, it was small, more instinctive, like Merlin's, but growing up in Camelot he hadn't felt a strong urge to really try and test it or strengthen it or use it. It slipped out of him from time to time, in the midst of battle or a duel or when his life was in immediate danger. But now…he wanted to know more about it, and he'd gone to Gaius.

Gaius had invited Leon on his rounds with him and that was what had sparked an idea in Merlin that Arthur wasn't entirely sure was clever or mad.

They were going to walk through the Lower Towns and the Market and the castle and just…do magic. Small bits of it, GOOD magic, lights and fun and entertainment and helping people as much as they could to try and get the people to realize that magic could be good. That was a nice notion, a brilliant part of the plan…but what alarmed Arthur was that they were going to split up. They were going to wander the streets separately and HE had been forbidden to go. They really wanted the people to realize that the ones with magic weren't a threat to them, that they'd been helping all that time. And they were afraid that seeing Arthur, even knowing that he'd changed the laws, would make the people think of Uther and his hatred for magic.

He wasn't happy with it, not at all, he wanted to be there and protect them if anything went wrong. But they were insistent. They weren't even letting the knights go with them…though he'd asked Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival to shadow them regardless, at a distance of course.

"It's the only way they'll see magic can be good," Marayna agreed with her brother, "Is if they SEE magic being used for good."

He sighed, "I know, just…be careful," he looked at each of them.

Marayna smiled and kissed his cheek, "We'll be just fine."

~8~

Merlin was walking through the market, smiling at those he passed by, using his familiar grin and typical clothes to try and remind them he was still him, he was still Merlin, just…with magic. Most people smiled back instantly, but then he saw them making a concerned look at him, as though they weren't sure what to make of him, as though they weren't sure what he would do. He wouldn't lie and say that didn't hurt, it did. But he was determined and he'd been prepared for it. He knew that not everyone would react like Gwen. They didn't have the benefit of realizing all that they'd done for Camelot before they brought up their magic. Gwen had worked out that they'd saved her father's life when they told her about it, she'd felt grateful, she'd equated their magic with something good.

He didn't know what that majority of the people would equate him having magic to.

"Merlin!" a child called and he looked over as a small gaggle of village children rushed over to him, nearly knocking him over as they tackled him, their parents watching warily. He knew what must be going through their minds, who was hugging their child right now? Merlin, the lovable servant-turned-noble, or a sorcerer?

"Hello," he greeted with a laugh, focusing on the children for the moment, let the parents see him being HIM.

"Merlin will you show us the lights again?" one of the boys asked.

"Yes, yes, the fairy lights!" a little girl called.

"Of course," he smiled at them, closing his hands before his mouth and leaning in as though telling a secret…he concentrated and his eyes flashed, before he opened his hands and blew out, small speckles of light flying out of his hands on the small breeze of his breath, starting to sparkle and grow bigger.

The children cheered and started to chase the small lights, like floating stars drifting in the daylight, small colored fireflies whizzing about.

"That…" Merlin looked back, seeing one of the women, one of the mothers staring at the children playing, "That…wasn't magic…"

"It was," he nodded, standing up, facing the parents, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to entertain them."

"But…they're alive," one of the fathers breathed.

Merlin smiled, "I would NEVER hurt the children, ever," he swore to them, before taking a breath, "I've had magic all my life, from the moment I was born," he told them, "I grew up with my sister and I the only ones that we could play games like that with," he looked back at the children, "Aya's better than me at making the colors change, I can just make them one color but the children seem to enjoy it," he looked back at the parents, "Morgana's with child," he added, feeling his heart beating faster at the thought, "We're going to have a child of our own and I already love it, just as I love William and Rosaline, just as I care for all the children here," he looked at the parents earnestly, "I would never use my magic to harm them, ever. I've only ever used it to help protect Camelot, to stop others hurting you. I swear it."

The parents eyed their children, having more fun in those few minutes than they'd likely had all week, "They seem alright," a young woman remarked.

"It's…just lights?" another father asked.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "Just a light show."

"Can…can you do other things but lights?" the small crowd of adults started to come closer, seeming to want to know, genuinely know.

"Yeah," he laughed, "I can um…I'm quite good at protective spells and enchantments, reacting and making shields, stopping arrows, deflecting fires…" he trailed off a moment, "I'm the defender, in a way, I like protecting, just like Morgana likes healing."

"Defender in what way?" one of the other men asked, something about what he'd said striking them.

He smiled, he knew that the men were fiercely protective of their wives and children, especially with all the magical attacks Camelot had been forced to endure over the years. It had to be jarring and harming for them to be faced with a magical threat and have NOTHING to fight back with. Hopefully, him being there, showing them that you could fight fire with fire in a way, that magic wasn't just evil but could protect them…maybe it would help

"Here," he crouched down and picked up a rock, "Throw this at me," he handed it to the man who'd asked the question.

"What?" the man stared at him, the crowd shifting.

"Trust me, it's alright," Merlin smiled, "Arthur's thrown knives at me, and cups at me, and pillows at me, and helmets at me and…well, I'm quite a good ducker."

That seemed to ease the crowd just a bit, "If…If you're sure," the man eyed the rock.

"Go on," Merlin urged and the man glanced at the others, seeing the children had stopped to watch, before throwing the stone at Merlin, not hard, not in a hateful way, but strong enough where it would certainly hurt if he was hit.

The crowd watched, flinching as they saw his eyes flash…before the rock stopped midair and fell to the ground a foot in front of him.

"See?" he shrugged, "Now imagine a sorcerer's throwing a fireball at you, or an enemy a spear…I can stop it, I can shield you all and protect you. I can stop the attack."

"You…you can stop the bad magic people hurting us?" a small voice asked and he looked down to see a small boy, hardly bigger than his knee, tugging on the end of his jacket.

"Yeah," Merlin nodded, crouching down, "You wouldn't believe how many bad people I've helped stop over the years."

"Could…" one of the women spoke up, "Would you tell us?"

Merlin blinked and smiled, nodding, before he started his tale about the evils he'd helped conquer and the harms he'd protected the people from through the years.

~8~

Percival was following behind Morgana, at a distance as Arthur requested, making sure she didn't notice him though it seemed a bit ridiculous, he was quite…large. People often saw him coming at a distance but it seemed like Morgana was either oblivious or pretending not to see him for his benefit. Whichever it was, he was thankful for it. Morgana had been quite…tempered since she'd met Merlin, all her anger and fire and rage that she often held for Uther had faded over the years. With Uther she'd had little choice but to argue and yell and shout…Arthur actually LISTENED to her. She had no need to shout and rage any longer. But that by no means meant she was a docile little bird…she was still passionate and a spitfire and she'd give him and Arthur such a verbal tongue lashing if she noticed him and was bothered by it.

He was trying to keep an eye on the ones walking with her, a handful of Druids. Morgana had run into them a short time ago and invited them to walk with her. It was creating a bit of a path among the people, who were all eyeing the Druids even more warily now that they knew Morgana had magic, but he was trying to just make sure no one would try and attack from behind when there was nothing going on. He knew no one would likely attack the princess, nor would they attack one Druid passing through…but a small group might make the people feel like it was a small attack on them.

He slowed as they stopped to look at a small stall in the market, before continuing on, waiting till they'd turned a corner before he stepped after them, gasping as he ran into someone just around the corner and the other thing fell to the ground.

"My apologies, my lady!" he cried out, realizing the thing he'd run into was actually a person, a woman, a rather small woman, not small as in age, but small as in her height and weight. She was quite…petite, with red hair and small freckles on her nose, "Please let me help you up," he held out a hand to her, feeling a bit of a warmth spread through his arm as she put her small hand in his rather large one and let him tug her to her feet. She stumbled slightly, lighter than he thought she was, and he'd tugged a bit hard and she was quite light and…

And she was rather pretty, lovely actually.

Her hair was a few shades lighter than Camelot's red, straight and long, falling over her back in a soft plait. Her eyes were a soft blue, like the sky and her skin was lightly tanned, a life in the fields it seemed. She was wearing a simple dress of a light green, like one of the villagers, and had been holding a small basket of flowers in her arms that fell to the ground when she'd run into him.

"I'm sorry," he quickly snapped himself out of his shock, letting go of the hand he'd still been holding, before he crouched down and picked up the flowers that had scattered to the side, placing them back into the basket and standing, the basket clutched in his arms, "Um…sorry um…"

The woman let out a soft laugh at his stuttering, "Margaret," she offered him her hand.

"Pretty," he breathed, "I mean, Percival," he closed his eyes, this was not going well, he was making an utter fool out of himself, "My name, um, it's Percival."

"I know," the woman blushed at his small compliment, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, "You're a knight of Camelot."

He waited a moment for her to add 'of the Other Houses' but she just smiled at him, she had a bit of a crooked smile, it curled up more on one side, it was quite lovely, "Um, yes."

"Were…were you one of the ones who knew about the magic?" she asked him quietly, there had been rumors going around that a handful of knights looked a bit unsurprised at the revelation when the magic had been revealed.

"I…yes," he nodded, "I've known for a while."

"And you protected them, the…the queen and prince and princess?"

"With my life," he nodded, "They're my friends."

"Loyalty to your friends," she smiled, "That's a brilliant quality. Not…not that you don't have other brilliant qualities," she added quickly, blinking rapidly and starting to blush, thinking she'd insulted him, "I mean, you're…you're very big. Muscular!" she corrected, "And skilled with a sword, and handsome and…I'm going to stop talking now," she looked away, her entire face as red as her hair.

Percival chuckled at that, "Thank you," he looked at her softly.

"Thank YOU as well," she added, earnest, "For protecting the High Priestess and Archmage."

Percival blinked, "You're a Druid?"

She nodded, looking down a moment, before taking a breath and looking up at him, "I am."

He smiled, "I should have known."

"Oh?"

He nodded, "Only someone with magic could enchant me as you have done with your smile."

She let out a breath, biting her lip and smiling, looking away but he could see she was thrilled with his words, "I used no magic."

"Perhaps magic of another sort," he offered, it had to be a type of magic…he was completely smitten and he knew it and just from one run in! But Margaret…she was sweet, he could tell and she…there was just something.

"Then I am glad magic has been returned," she looked at him, "If not, I'd not be here and we'd not have met."

He nodded, "I find myself even more thankful for the edict."

It was so true, now that he realized it, if Arthur hadn't changed the laws, Druids wouldn't be so open about who they were and she'd be more cautious and closed off and he doubted she'd be as open with him. And…if she'd never come to Camelot, then he really wouldn't have met her and for some reason…that thought bothered him quite a bit.

"If you'll forgive me, Sir Percival…I have work to attend to."

He nodded, "Yes, of course," he agreed, "I am sorry to have kept you so long."

"Not at all," she smiled at him, "I enjoyed the delay."

He stared at her a moment longer, "Shall I escort you back?"

"I'd like that," she laughed, that hadn't been why she'd delayed, as she'd been waiting for something of hers to be returned, but she was very much looking forward to more time with the rather large man.

It must have looked quite the sight to see the largest of knights walking through the market with a rather petite woman, the man with a basket of flowers in his arms. It must have looked quite the sight when, later, that same large knight would be seen walking off with a small flower tucked int the strings of his tunic.

~8~

Morgana kept her head up as she walked through the market, a few Druids among her, she had to be so thankful that no one in the kingdom besides a select few knew that she had been at a crossroads, one that could have easily led her down a dark and dangerous and evil path. She didn't want anyone to know of that, she didn't want to give the people any reason to doubt her or her heart or where her loyalties laid. She had done all she could when she went on rounds with Gaius to make sure that people saw her as the genuine, carrying, concerned woman who always had the best at heart for them and for her own people. She tried to be a comfort, to heal the wounded, tend to the sick, help the weak, she wanted to be seen for her choices and not for what she had inside her.

This time, her trip with the Druids, she knew that Merlin was moving about towards the children they'd told stories to, she was of the mid to see to the patients of Gaius, some that had been wounded in other attacks that she had tended herself that she had slipped a bit of magic into healing and helping.

She knew her choice of companions for the day might leave something to be desired for others, but she was quite content to walk about with the Druids, they were as much a part of nature and healing as she was and they had become some of her greatest friends. She was hoping that they could head to the more ill people, those that had been suffering with ailments that Gaius could relieve but not cure, not cure without magic. If she could help them see the benefits, see that good that magic could do, she was hoping it would help them accept it more.

She gestured to the druids to stop when they spotted an older man sitting outside a hut, whittling a piece of wood, the small piece already taking the shape of a horse.

Morgana smiled sadly when the man began to cough a deep hacking cough that Gaius had been struggling to help the man endure for years now. He'd gotten a rather bad cold one winter and the cough just never went away. But it would now.

"Jacob?" she called, and the man looked over.

He quickly pushed himself to his feet, "My Lady," he bowed, only to start coughing again.

Morgana rushed to his side and helped him sit back down, the people down the row of houses pausing to look over, having heard his exclamation and spotted Morgana kneeling before him. They started forward when they saw the small handful of Druids that had gone with her, alarmed and fearful for their friend.

"Please, rest," Morgana smiled at him.

"To what…do I owe the honor, princess?" the man wheezed, "Has Gaius another remedy?"

"I'm afraid he has not," her smile turned sad, "But, with your permission, I'd like to try one of my own."

The man looked at her, "Anything to rid me of this infernal cough would be most welcome."

She took a breath, "It will involve magic," she warned him, not wanting to startle him or alarm him when she reached out to use her magic.

Jacob blinked, "I…magic?"

She nodded, "I can promise you only that your cough shall be no more, I shall not harm you or do anything other than what I've promised," she looked at him, seeing him struggling, "Do you trust me Jacob, as your past physician did?"

Jacob swallowed hard, feeling another cough coming on, "I do," he took a breath, "Please, go on."

Morgana nodded and reached out, placing her hand on his shoulder and her other on the center of his chest. Jacob was started when her eyes flashed, not even needing words which, even in a kingdom as magically intolerant as Camelot had been, all those present knew that it was a sign of power, that Morgana was truly a powerful magic-user to not need to cast a spell to use magic.

"Try to take a deep breath," Morgana instructed.

Jacob seemed wary for a moment…before inhaling deeply, his eyes widening as he managed to do so without any strain or cough at all, "I can breathe," he whispered, looking at her with tears in his eyes, taking more and more deep breaths.

"Calm down, easy," Morgana laughed as she patted his shoulder, "Don't make yourself faint over…" she was cut off by Jacob falling to his knees, hugging her tightly, openly crying. The cough had prevented him from working as he used to, from getting a proper job to help provide for his family. And it caused such pain in him every time he breathed that at times he felt faint due to the shorter, more shallow breaths that he'd been forced to take because of it. But now…now he could breathe deep and it didn't hurt and his chest didn't rumble or strain and…he could BREATHE.

"Thank you," he murmured, "Thank you my Lady."

Morgana smiled, patting his back as she looked at the others gathered around her, "It was my honor to help you Jacob."

She gave his back one more pat before she stood, looking around, already seeing another patient of Gaius that she could help with rather painful joints, and got to work…

~8~

Gwaine was thinking this was either a stroke of genius on Arthur's part, to have him trailing behind Marayna, or a waste of his time. He knew the girl well, he knew that between her fierce spirit and her magic she was well defended…that and the sais she kept in her boots even now. She was well protected and it wasn't like anyone out there would dare harm her knowing she was the queen of Camelot. So really the reason for trailing behind him was pointless, she was perfectly safe. He considered, briefly as he passed the tavern that he should pop in for a round as Marayna was fine, but…in a brief fit of chivalry, he decided to keep to his task and shadow his friend…and then fully blame Arthur for ALL of it if he got caught.

He followed her to a part of town that was more active, with how often Camelot got attacked, there was always some area of it that was in the process of being repaired or worked on or built. And he knew that was just where she'd head, to the likely most dangerous place to be with the stones and wood beams and men hauling and cutting and breaking things, she always had been more active and invested in things. He moved to lean on the side of one of the small houses, watching her enter the site, and just watched and waited. There wasn't much to really do, he knew she could handle herself.

"You know if you'd like to watch the men," a voice said behind him, "You'd be better served getting closer."

Gwaine spun around, nearly jumping as he realized there was a woman sitting on a barrel behind him. He could recognize her by her attire as one of the barmaids in the tavern and realized that this particular area that was under construction was just behind the tavern really. The woman was sitting on a barrel of their finest beverage, his favorite, and in the process of cutting and pealing an apple. He watched as she used her knife to make the apple peel one continuous length instead of choppy bits.

"And you'd best seek out Theodore," she added, "He'd likely be the most open to your stares…"

Gwaine blinked, "I'm not interested in men," he said quickly.

The woman smirked her pale pink lips lifting up on one end, "Oh aren't you?" she scoffed, "A knight of Camelot?" she eyed him, her brown eyes sparkling, "One would think, with all the time you spend together, that you'd be a bit more than just brothers in arms."

He nearly blanched at the thought, the men really were more like his brothers than anything. And besides that, Elyan had only had room in his heart to protect his sister, Lancelot was married to Gwen, he'd spotted Percival with a ginger girl before (and yes, he was fully intent to tease the man for how smitten he looked), Arthur…well, that was obvious where his affections lied, Merlin was married to Morgana, and Leon…the man would kill him for EVER outing his affections for his sweet one but Mithian was a lucky woman. He'd seen a small exchange of letters between them ever since their last encounter with the woman. Leon HAD been rather more concerned for the woman than was proper. A good talking to had revealed that he'd been interested and intrigued by the princess during her first visit after Uther passed, and then they'd gotten closer in the course of helping her rescue her father. They'd been speaking via letters since then and he was quite sure Leon would one day be the next King of Nemeth if he wasn't careful.

Him though? He loved his ale.

"And a bar wench?" he countered, "I'd have thought that with the rounds gone around, you'd be more than just a girl serving mead to the men."

He knew it was outrageously offensive to suggest she was serving the men in other ways, but his vulgarity and years of ignoring his noble background had forged a man that was ten times as crude as Marayna could be. He had only ever been so coarse with her, now that he thought about it, the names they called each other alone was enough to have Arthur covering poor William's ears half the time.

But the woman just smirked, "You'd have to buy me a round to find out."

He felt himself grinning as he truly took her in. She was blond, her hair a paler blond than gold, more like a soft yellow, not quite white, no, but a fair sort of hue. She was pale, a life spent indoors at night, tending a tavern, but she had a hard feature to her face, her smirk alone was dangerous, he could tell. Had to come from plenty of time chasing off drunken men to be able to hold her own and fire back insults and taunts and flirts. She was fair sized, rather average, likely only an inch or two shorter than him, her hair in a messy bun, her clothes typical for her profess. An off shoulder white tunic, a red corset, and a black skirt, but he could see the muscles in her arms as she pealed the apple, she had to be strong to carry all the wine and mead and ale and gin to patrons, to be on her feet all night, to likely haul drunken men into the street at the end of the long day.

"Sorry," he smirked back, "I've turned over a new leaf."

"Well then I'll just have to tempt you."

"With what?" he eyed her curiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes, actually," he took a step closer to her, "Very much."

She shrugged, merely repeating, "Buy me a round to find out."

"And if I buy you two?" he teased.

She smiled, "You name it."

He knew she was testing him, testing his will, testing his intentions, and he felt that blasted chivalry flare up again and said what was probably the most ridiculous thing he could think of, "A bite of your forbidden fruit?"

He was quite sure she was going to slap him…

So when she merely smiled and started laughing, a playful yet fiery look in her eyes he felt himself lose his breath at that. Any other woman would slap him, no…punch him, no…knee him in a very delicate spot as he was now close enough to the barrel for her to easily be able to do just that…but she was laughing.

"Shall you promise on the honor of a knight, two rounds?" she challenged.

"On my honor as a knight," he nodded, "Two."

"Well then," she hopped off the barrel, more like slid off it, still very much within his personal space though really it had been HIM that invaded HER space, and looked up at him. Without even glancing at the now pealed apple, she cut into it, carving out a wedge and holding it up to him, pressed against her knife.

He grinned, opening his mouth to take it, munching on it thoughtfully, "Never tasted sweeter," he winked at her, knowing that she'd caught his little joke about the apple. The Old Religion and quite a few others considered apples to be particularly dangerous fruits.

"Well then, you'll just have to try other fruits too," the girl teased, "I guarantee you I have a few others that are FAR sweeter."

And with that, she pushed against him, sliding past him and heading for the tavern, "I didn't catch your name," he called after her.

"Buy me that first round first," she called back, cutting another wedge for herself and pressing it to her tongue as she entered the tavern, Gwaine watching till she disappeared within.

He blinked a moment later, realizing he was STILL staring at the door, "How did she do that?" no one had ever really gotten one up on him when it came to flirting but that…that was far more than flirting. And then he blinked again and ran a hand down his face, "I'm turning into Arthur now."

~8~

Marayna looked around as she entered the construction yard, smiling as she saw that no one really had noticed her which was just what she wanted. She was the only one of her, Merlin, and Morgana that was wearing a brown old cloak. She wanted people to see the magic first and then see the queen, not the other way around. She knew because of her status that people would see her and then not say a word about the magic because of who she was, she wanted them to truly see what the magic could do for them before realizing that it was the queen who had done it.

It was another reason why she'd chosen this part of the kingdom. It was so busy with so much going on that no one would notice her right away. With magic…this entire place could be constructed and rebuilt within a day depending how many people came to help. She was just one person but she wanted to at least show them that magic could help. She knew the people working there, they weren't all carpenters and masons, most were just the people who had lost their homes and were trying to help rebuild as much as they could as quickly as they could. They weren't skilled, they weren't trained in the craft and so it would take them longer to see it done and that was just more time that would be spent trying to get people back in their homes.

She looked around, seeing a few men struggling with a rather large beam of wood and smiled, following the direction they were trying to move it, seeing the small resting place that was meant for it and lifted her hand. She focused, her eyes flashing as the large beam rose quickly into the air, unminding of the ropes around it, the men stumbling back, startled, as the wood rose all on its own and headed for its position. She slowly walked forward, trying to make sure she was getting it all at the right angle, when she heard an outraged cry behind her.

"Don't you dare!" a man was shouting and the next thing she knew she was being whirled around and backhanded across the face, sending her down to the ground.

She looked up, gasping, seeing the men shouting as the large beam began to fall without her focused and holding it up, she quickly threw out her hand stopping it from harming anyone, waiting till they'd cleared before it dropped.

"I said leave it!" the man grabbed her by the back of the cloak, "We don't need no sorcerers cursing our homes!"

"I wasn't doing that," she insisted, pulling her cloak out of his grip as other men ran up, either to stop him or help her she wasn't sure.

"Then what were you doing, you evil scum?!"

Marayna's jaw clenched, "Helping," she told him, "Like this," she lifted her hand again and the wood quickly lifted, floating up to the resting place and sinking in right when the man grabbed her arm, "Unhand me."

"Not till you undo whatever curse you put on that wood!" the man nearly snarled.

And Marayna had no patience anymore, every bit of it had been spent on her children, so she whipped her hood off and glared at the man, who now seemed about ready to wet himself when he realized he'd just grabbed the queen, "If you would be so kind as to unhand the evil scum?" she asked.

The man dropped her hand, stumbling back, reeling from the recollection of what he'd just called the Queen of Camelot, "My Lady…" he breathed, starting to shake.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "I've been called worse than that growing up in my village and that was when they DIDN'T know about my magic," she waved him off, "Ealdor is still standing, you're not about to be executed for insulting me. I'm not some thin skinned maiden that shatters at a slight against her."

"My deepest apologies, I didn't know…"

"That doesn't give you the right to be so brutish and disrespectful to someone with magic," she warned him, "If it's not me you should still afford them the same respect if they have come to help, as I have."

"Help, majesty?" one of the other men blinked.

She sighed, "Call me Marayna if you insist on formalities," she told him, "Right now I'm not the queen, I'm not even the High Priestess, I'm just a witch trying to help you get your homes back," she looked at them, "I have just set a beam in, taking less than a minute, that would have taken you half a day to do did I not?" they nodded, "Well then, tell me what else needs doing and let my magic help you find your families a home once more."

The men blinked and looked back and forth between her and the beam as though just realizing she HAD set that beam in quickly and without a single trouble that they'd have meet.

"You…can use magic for that?" one of the men shook their head.

"You can use an axe to help build a house as easily as you can to destroy it yes?" she glanced at them, "Magic can create as easily as it can destroy. Right now I'd like to help you build up instead of break down.

The man who had shoved her swallowed hard and she could see he still had issues with what she was doing, with the magic, "Help would be appreciated," he murmured, a wary look at her but she could make out that he was trying…help like this, help that would get them to their end goal faster with less accidents or injuries would help. He HAD seen her catch that beam before it could harm someone, if she could even hold up something that fell with magic that was heavy it could save so many lives and time.

"Excellent," she nodded, tugging off her cloak and rolling up her sleeves, "Let's get to it."

And with that, she walked on, towards the structure under construction, ready to get to work…and thinking she should probably have Morgana heal her cheek before they returned to the castle before Arthur saw the bruise and told her he was right.

She did so hate it when he was right.

A/N: OMG, 2 chapters left! O.O I hope you liked the little bit of love interest for Gwaine and Percival, look at our two lovely men getting distracted from their duties :)

And...I'm very pleased to say that the next chapter will be up at the normal time and will stay that way from here on out now that my classes are over ^-^ Woo! I'm SO happy about that :D My brother surprised my mother with a puppy yesterday so it was a bit hectic with the little puggle :) And then vet visits and getting food and carrying cases and all today lol :) He's adorable :)

Some notes on reviews...

No worries, I don't think I could make another Arthur/OC, I love Marayna too :)

Lol, thanks :) I have no idea why they repeated, but I fixed it :)

I can't say about a Chanelle, mostly because I've got the names of just about all my future OCs picked out. But there's always hope for the future :)