Gaius led them through the forest and seemed to hone in on where he needed to go. The rest of them followed, holding hands on occasion, Arthur and Merlin, Arthur and Morgana and Morgana and Merlin. They were feeling the bond, and Arthur had passed the tactile need onto Merlin, who lay at the centre. He was tied to Arthur, but Morgana was knit to them. They hadn't had any time together, alone, and Gaius left them to play. He had far more serious things to think about. This meeting had to be planned, but he wasn't sure how to bring up what he needed to say. It went deeper than any of the three children knew, and they were children.
Before now there had never been much of a childhood, for two of them anyway. Uther's shadow had killed such games. Morgana had been a wild, wilful child. The man who thought he was her father, Gorlois, could hardly keep track of her, but he had laughed so much at her antics. Uther had smiled tightly, the times he had been forced to watch Morgana and Arthur play together, but then he had gained control of Morgana and she had become a pretty toy. Gaius was mildly thankful that Uther knew of her parentage, because Uther would have taken her every way he could if it was possible. In his darker moment Gaius thought that Uther might have almost enjoyed it, subjugating his own daughter sexually. Thankfully he never had, Morgana had fought back in her own way but it had made her careful of so many people around her. Except Arthur, and Merlin.
Gaius paused and looked around. He knew the cave wasn't far from here, it was just past the ridge and north, following the line of the upper reaches.
"Are you all right, Gaius?" Merlin asked, stepping up next to him. Morgana and Arthur were a few paces behind, Arthur helping his sister along a rough area of pathway. She could manage on her own but Arthur at least had manners when it came to that sort of thing.
"Yes. Merlin?"
Merlin frowned, looking at Gaius. The old man looked back at him, about to say something. Merlin waited, frowning as he sensed some level of hesitation in Gaius. And he realised, Gaius looked worried.
"What is it?" Merlin asked.
"This situation is not as simple as it looks, just please listen."
"Okay, is this to do with Arthur, and Morgana?" Merlin said, as he followed Gaius down an incline. As they followed the small stream down it curved and Gaius paused as he looked at the entrance to Balinor's cave.
"No, Merlin, it's to do with you."
Merlin frowned but had no opportunity to question Gaius further as they moved closer to the entrance.
"Is he there?" Merlin asked.
"It's not like we can knock on the door to find out," Arthur said. He pushed past them and ducked his head to go into the cave. The rest of them spread out a little, looking around. Morgana noticed the flowers that seemed to be very prevalent around the area, like they had been brought there. Merlin couldn't stop the tingle running down his spine, and Gaius looked around furiously.
Arthur came back out again.
"He's not here, I suppose we can just wait for him. I can look for tracks and… Merlin!"
Merlin fell forward as he was pushed hard in the back, crashing face down onto the floor. Arthur pulled his sword, running to him, meeting the man wielding the staff head on. Merlin crawled away trying to get away from the sounds of the fight, and then he felt a shockwave through his mind and rolling over saw Arthur collapse from a blow by the staff. Balinor swung it wickedly, distracting Arthur by feinting towards Merlin. Balinor stood over Arthur ready for another strike. Morgana ran forward but she was too far away, Merlin was nearest.
"No!" he ran forward, throwing a spell to knock the man away from Arthur. Then Merlin fell on a wet patch of leaves and sprawled on the floor. He struggled up, looking up at the man wielding the staff. Arthur was still trying to clear his head and Morgana was miles away. Merlin started to draw together the power for a spell, if nothing else to protect himself. He met the eyes of the man, and saw nothing but contempt. His spell faltered a little. The man's eyes had locked on the cuff around his neck. They were all dressed in simple clothes, with no embellishments, but Merlin still had the cuff, and hadn't bothered to cover it.
It gave everything away, including what he was, and who he belonged to. Not something Balinor would be happy to see. The scene froze, Merlin most especially as he stared up with wide eyes.
"Balinor, he's Hunith's son!" Gaius' voice rang across the clearing. Merlin watched as the man looked up, his weapon lowering slightly. Then he looked back at Merlin. Balinor stepped back and turned to Arthur, who was getting up, but was still unsteady. Merlin was stared at again and he felt the cuffs tingle. The man in front of him looked furious and he turned on Arthur.
"NO!" Merlin shouted, he got up and ran, stumbling a little, but he put himself between Balinor and Arthur, turning to face Balinor, and holding onto Arthur. Arthur wasn't steady, and as Merlin grabbed him, slipping again, Arthur couldn't take the sudden weight and fell again. Merlin dropped with him. The staff rose again.
"He's a Pendragon pet!" Balinor snarled.
"He's Hunith's boy, I swear to you," Gaius said running forward, holding his hands out in a pleading gesture. Arthur recovered, got up and pulled Merlin with him, trying to put him out of harm's way. Merlin rolled with it, landing against Arthur's back and Arthur braced himself, holding Merlin behind him to keep him out of the way. Merlin tried to get past Arthur, wondering what the hell was going on. But Balinor was a threat to Arthur and Merlin didn't want that. They struggled for a moment, and then one clear voice rang across the clearing.
"For goodness sake!" Morgana shouted, glaring around at all of them. Her eyes fixed on Arthur and Merlin, both trying to get in front of the other.
"Will you two stop that before you both fall flat on your faces, again! Right now!"
They stopped, looking embarrassed and Arthur grabbed for Merlin's hand. Merlin let him. Morgana turned to look at the others, her eyes locking on Balinor.
"And while I appreciate you might be wary of people finding where you are, you know Gaius, and would you ever think that he means you any harm?"
"It is hard to tell when he is escorted by Pendragons," Balinor said. Morgana glared even more.
"Do you honestly believe that he would bring any harm to you, after all these years?"
Balinor blinked, Morgana's gaze didn't flinch, and she just glared at him steadily. Eventually Balinor lowered his eyes and gave her a brief nod.
"No, My Lady, I would wish not."
"Good," Morgana said. "So maybe we should stop making so much noise out here, and go and talk, because Cenred is not stupid, and might have latched onto our deception. We can't afford to assume otherwise. This conversation needs to be done quickly and," she said, looking at the boy in question. "Perhaps needs to focus on why Merlin's mother is suddenly so important."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"It was good she found happiness," Balinor said, as they took refuge in the cave and they shared out water and food.
"I suppose she did," Merlin said. "I think I made her happy."
Balinor looked up at him. Assessing Merlin again.
"There was no one else?" Balinor asked. Merlin shook his head, his frown getting deeper.
"Oh, Gaius, just say it," Morgana snarled, looking irritated.
"When Balinor ran," Gaius said to Merlin. "He took refuge in Ealdor, more importantly with your mother. Uther found out and tried to run him down. There were guard posts out for a while looking for him. I was there, once or twice. It was very early, but by then your mother was pregnant. I hid the fact from Uther."
"If he knew Hunith was pregnant by me! He would have taken her, he would have used him!" Balinor said accusingly.
"But Uther did not, it was easy to hide, she was only a few weeks gone. It was safe, so I left them there."
"You never told anyone. Not even when Arthur was trying to take power. Is that why I have my powers?" Merlin asked.
"I don't know, your power is instinctive, elemental in origin. You are an answer to a question that has never been posed. I don't believe there is a limit to your power, other than what you impose yourself," Gaius said.
"If Uther had ever got hold of him!" Balinor snarled, and then glared at Arthur, who glared back.
"He didn't, the dragon was right. I was not a weapon that Uther should be allowed to wield," Merlin said. He shuddered at the thought.
"But his sycophantic son should?" Balinor snarled.
Arthur looked offended. Morgana straightened up.
"No one else proved themselves capable of dealing with Uther. Arthur actually faced him and I for one will always be grateful. Merlin helped him. My sister died for it and I spent years being pulled about like a puppet, so there is no one who can do the 'I'm hard done by Uther Pendragon' card better than me, let me tell you!"
Morgana glared at Balinor, who stared back, looking very surprised by what he was faced with. After a moment Morgana stopped looking quite so formidable and she relaxed, stepping towards Balinor and putting a hand on his arm.
"No one can ever measure the damage that Uther has done, but he has gone. Arthur and I can try and rebuild it, but Cenred will send his army in and as strong as we still are, there is some disarray, and it can be taken advantage of. And if he tries, others will try," Morgana said.
"Merlin was the one who suggested trying to find you, so we can use the dragon," she added.
Merlin looked up, he looked at Arthur last of all and he felt the dragon inside him stir. A look of understanding passed between them. Perhaps there was a reason it was a dragon, it wasn't just the symbol so synonymous with Arthur, if Merlin was the son of a dragon lord then he couldn't help the strong tie to the creature.
"You're going to wield Kilgharrah as a weapon. That was why you looked for me."
Balinor's eyes landed accusingly on Merlin. In response Merlin bit his lower lip, looking down at the floor.
"Yes. I didn't know anything else about you!" Merlin said, looking up, eyes wide and glassy. Balinor looked down at him. Merlin was distracted as Arthur put a hand around Merlin's wrist. The cool breeze calmed Merlin a little. He gnawed on his lip for a moment before looking back up at Balinor.
They locked eyes and held. Merlin's had something of a plea in them.
"My mother's gone; I didn't even know I actually had a father."
"And you are willing to help the person that is responsible for her death?" Balinor asked. Merlin looked at the floor again.
"It wasn't Arthur's fault, it was mine."
"What do you mean, Merlin?" Arthur asked.
"If I hadn't run, if I had just waited for you to take me, she wouldn't have been hurt. It was only because I tried to get away that she got hurt."
"Merlin," Arthur said, his hand tightening on the cuff. He pulled Merlin's hand over to his lap, taking it tightly. Merlin dropped his shoulder against Arthur's, lowering his head a little. All of them felt the gentle pressure of Arthur's magic as he wrapped Merlin up in it, trying to protect him. There wasn't much he could do except let that cool calm breeze touch Merlin's mind and try and soothe his upset. Merlin had yet to deal with the emotions over his mother's death, too many things were happening, and it was now and again a relief to push the guilt to the back of his mind. As Merlin sat there, he was dimly aware of Gaius talking.
"Balinor, we cannot afford to linger, Cenred will already be mobilising his army to invade. We need Arthur there."
The implication could be read in the subtext of Gaius' words. If Arthur was there, then Merlin had to be. Should Balinor want to continue this, then he would have no choice but to follow. Morgana and Gaius watched the conflicting expressions on Balinor's face.
There was more to it than the simple implication of regarding his own son, someone that he never knew existed. It also meant when he died, Merlin would become the last Dragon Lord, with the power to control the great dragon. As well meaning as this group was, they had no idea of the real implications of that. Arthur was talking in a low tone to Merlin, but through that, Merlin looked up and gazed steadily at Balinor. They maintained eye contact for a moment longer before Merlin turned back to Arthur and Balinor looked at Morgana and Gaius.
"Are you willing to free Kilgharrah afterwards?"
"I guess," Morgana shrugged. "As long as he doesn't do anything destructive."
"I can make sure of that, I'll get what I need. There is no guarantee I will remain, after I have done what you asked of me."
Morgana raised her eyebrows but eventually she nodded. "Very well."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"We should at least make it back to the convoy just after dusk," Gaius guessed as they moved through the forest. He was walking with Morgana and Balinor. As they had set off, Arthur had moved ahead, pulling Merlin along with him. The pair of them were now having an intense conversation, and during pauses Arthur sent glares back in Balinor's direction. To his credit Balinor didn't react. Merlin however, was most defiantly trying to be placating.
"If you are releasing the sorcerers, why is one still attached to the king?" Balinor asked.
"Those that wished to stay, and wished to remain bonded have stayed so. They are a small number but Merlin is the one of greatest necessity. I think he understands that," Morgana said.
Balinor watched at Arthur sent him another warning glare before he turned back to his conversation with Merlin. Merlin continued to try and be reassuring to Arthur, who hadn't taken the newly revealed familial bond well.
"Why?" Balinor asked, concern clear in his voice. Morgana and Gaius exchanged a look before Gaius started talking.
"Arthur is not entirely emotionally stable. After the confrontation with Uther he seemed to lock himself away in his own mind. Merlin somehow brought him back, I don't know what he did, he seemed to enter Arthur's mind. If he has done anything he has tightened the bond beyond the point of breakage."
Balinor frowned.
"I don't believe even Merlin entirely understood what he was doing. His power is beyond anything we have known, and for control of it, Arthur is necessary," Gaius added.
"And you trust him with that?"
"We have to. No one really knows the truth of his mental state. Just us, and a few trusted guards. On the face of it he can act normally, but he's fragile, and if any of the surrounding kingdoms learn of that, then we will be facing an even bigger issue," Morgana said.
"Bigger than Cenred?" Balinor asked. Morgana sighed.
"Even without the bonds, we still have enough sorcerers willing to help, and our soldiers are still the best. At the very least we can hold our own, and certainly maintain a siege, but that will leave us weakened, even if we beat him back. Then someone else may try to take advantage. Camelot does not have many friends; Uther's death may not make a difference to that."
"Kilgharrah would sway that balance, beyond a shadow of a doubt," Balinor said.
"And it was Merlin's idea," Gaius said.
"He also visualises a dragon when he draws his power up, I always thought that just related to Arthur. Now I'm not so sure. Merlin runs on instinct, he might have known what he is going to become, even if he didn't consciously feel aware of it," Morgana said.
Balinor nodded, lost in thought for a moment before he stepped forward, heading towards the two young men, still involved in their intense conversation.
"I need to talk to my son."