After the stirring conversation with Merlin, Arthur found no peace. He wasn't afraid of his own death, but he certainly didn't want to leave Gwen alone. Somehow, he hardly noticed that his feet carried him to the library. It didn't surprise him that the librarian was also here and had lit some candles that gave him light while reading.
When the librarian Geoffrey of Monmouth heard a noise, he interrupted his reading and was surprised to find that the king was paying him a visit. He lifted himself out of his armchair with his old bones and greeted the king with these words: "My king. I am glad to see you. How can I be of service to you?"
"I'm sure you can. I am looking for books on magic and visions."
The old man became restless. Drops of sweat formed on his forehead and his lower lip began to twitch.
The king saw that the man suddenly became very nervous. Arthur knew that Geoffrey did not often leave the library, and so it was possible that the poor man was in mortal fear, as he might not have noticed the impending upheaval. "Changes are coming. Unfortunately, my knowledge of magic is very limited and patchy at best. As soon as magic is permitted again, I think..." He broke off and watched anxiously the color of his counterpart's face.
"Magic... allowed?", he could only understand from the whispered words. Arthur began to doubt whether it was really a good idea to allow magic, when a scholar like Geoffrey upset this. The king used gentle force to make the man sit down again and take a sip from his wine glass. "You don't think it's a good idea to free magic," he asked after the librarian had calmed down.
"It doesn't matter how I think about it, you are the king," he replied evasively.
"Please, I am still young and unfortunately I lack experience. I know far too little about all this, so I urgently need to change something about it. You are a scholar and a well-read man. I would really like to hear what you think about it," Arthur confessed uncertainly.
"It would probably be a great enrichment, but it would bring with it many dangers. There are always pros and cons, and these need to be weighed up. I no longer believed that I might be able to live to see magic being allowed again. I have read a lot of books in my life and there were many of them dealing with magic - some even with visions and prophecies. I must confess that I could persuade Uther not to destroy all the books of magic. There were so many treasures among them that I simply could not destroy them. Uther accepted my argument that we would have to keep some of them to be better prepared for magical attacks. Of course you will not find a single spell book in this library. This part of the library is freely accessible to everyone and I wanted to avoid being burned at the stake. Uther made it clear to me that I had to lock these books away in front of everyone. If I did not succeed in this, I would pay for it with my life. At first I did not know how to solve this dilemma. On the one hand, the hiding place had to be safe, on the other hand, it could not be too far away so that the books remained accessible. I had often noticed that the library seemed too small. One day I was in the east wing and a cramp wanted to crawl into my leg. I leaned against a shelf looking for support and triggered a hidden mechanism. The whole shelf revolved around itself and I suddenly found myself in a hidden room that was not large but had enough space for my books. Over the years I rarely visited the place. Usually I would quickly put another valuable book or magical item on a shelf and quickly leave the room again. There is neither a certain order nor are dust and cobwebs removed. Sometimes I had the feeling that someone was knocking on wood, but lately I haven't heard anything. Meanwhile the room is very full and I have the feeling that a visit could be dangerous. I don't dare to enter the room anymore, because I always get a strange feeling when I stand in front of the hidden entrance door", the librarian finished his lecture.

Arthur asked curiously: "Where exactly is this room?"
Geoffrey did not want to reveal this secret so easily and he did not want to have to go into this hidden room under any circumstances, but on the other hand he could not leave this question unanswered for the king. "He is in the east wing. I will show you the entrance, but I would suggest that someone accompanies you and I stay outside the hiding place. Just in case help needs to be brought. If you allow me, I would suggest Gaius as an escort, for example, as he is probably better able to judge which items are dangerous and which are not. Should I send for him? It is already later, but Gaius will probably still be up.
Arthur just nodded impatiently. He was annoyed that he couldn't go into the room alone, but he didn't want to turn down the advice either. Perhaps he unleashed another evil curse or released a magical creature. In the time he had to wait, he tried to imagine which objects were probably hidden in the room. Maybe even one or the other piece looked familiar to him.

Finally he heard footsteps and looked up in surprise when he saw that not only Gaius but also Sir Mordred was following the librarian.
"My King, you sent for me?" Gaius asked.
"Yes, I hope I have not woken you from your sleep," Arthur asked with a guilty conscience.
"No, no, my old bones do not often let me fall asleep quickly. How can I help?"
Arthur searched for the right words, but he realized that among those present he understood at least magic, a fact that annoyed and unsettled him. He had been prepared all his life to become King of Camelot. Had fought in many battles, had taken part in council meetings and serious decisions, but now he found himself in an area where his ignorance was a clear disadvantage. He chose the direct path and confessed: "I know too little about magic. How can I make meaningful decisions on this subject when I know little about it? It is essential that I equip myself with basic knowledge as quickly as possible and gain insight into magic. Only then can I better assess situations and make decisions based on inner conviction. I have learned that there are books about magic in a hidden room here in the library. Maybe there is a book that answers some questions. Furthermore I would learn more about visions and prophecies - for example how binding or exactly these are." Arthur noticed that Mordred could not suppress a twitch when he heard the words 'visions and prophecies'.
"This honors you, King Arthur. Most people fear, reject, or even condemn things they do not understand. It is highly advisable not to enter this room alone. Since not only certain artifacts from the old religion can be very dangerous, some books are also equipped with curses. Also Sir Mordred should accompany us as a pure precaution."
Mordred nodded in agreement. The librarian was relieved to be spared another visit to the room, but he was not really comfortable with the undertaking. He led them into the east wing, explained the mechanism and that the three men had to get close to the shelf. They agreed that Arthur should kick down the shelf to open it and Sir Mordred should intervene if anything unusual happened. A time of half an hour was agreed upon, and that was all the exploration would continue tonight. All three made a surprising noise when the shelf turned with them and they were suddenly in another room.
"We are fine. As agreed, we will explore the room for half an hour at most," Arthur Geoffrey informed Geoffrey.
A clear 'Yes, my King.' could be heard from outside.
The room was dark and filled with various objects. Shelves filled with various books lined the walls

Arthur did not know where to look first. It was not very bright in this room and the dust and cobwebs suggested that no one had been here for a long time. Arthur was about to reach for a crystal that somehow looked familiar to him. But Gaius stopped him. "Forgive me, but I advise you not to touch anything. Please do me a favor and ask me first if an object is harmless. Even a blanket could be enchanted."
"Do you know what crystals these are? They look familiar to me somehow," the king said with a frown.
Gaius took a closer look at the two crystals and said with an exclamation: "I was wondering where these crystal chains had gone! It must have been several years ago that we saw these crystals".
"We?", the king asked.
"Do you remember the tournament where Sir Gwaine saved your life back then? Two bandits had murdered Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan to take their places in the tournament. They used two swords that looked dull, but were razor sharp.
Mordred asked in astonishment: "Why didn't anyone recognize that Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan were missing?"
"These crystals have the power to give you the appearance of the one with whose blood the crystals came into contact. The bandits looked exactly like the murdered knights. Merlin noticed that the knights had changed a lot in their behavior, but they looked just like the two men. Merlin overheard a conversation between the two of them that they wanted to hack you, Arthur, to pieces at the tournament, so Merlin suspected the two of them. In the tournament, Merlin intervened inconspicuously and he helped you by letting one of the two alleged knights fall off his horse. Merlin was very relieved that a new knight was helping you and that his risky intervention with magic was no longer necessary. As you know, this knight was Sir Gwaine.
Mordred shook his head and asked, "Why didn't those two thugs just curse Arthur?"
"Cursed? The two men had no magic blood in their veins. They weren't even capable of harming a fly with magic. The power of the spell comes from the crystals themselves, and these were previously activated by a magician," Gaius answered the question.
"We should slowly sift through the books in this room and decide if one of them meets your needs," Sir Mordred interjected.
The three men spread out in the room and read different book titles. After Gaius had assured Arthur that the books he had chosen were harmless, he took them and they left the room. The librarian was very relieved when his king stood before him safe and sound again.
"How many know about this hiding place," Arthur asked the scholar.
"Well, that is difficult to say. We four know about it. As far as I know, this is all of them."
"All right, let's keep it that way for now. I am counting on you to know if someone is in the library and comes to this room?", the king asked cuttingly.
"Certainly."

Gaius, Sir Mordred and Arthur left the library together. Sir Mordred said goodbye relatively quickly and Arthur and Gaius looked after him. Gaius cleared his throat and confessed: "Merlin also knows about this Space."
"Why am I not surprised?" Arthur replied with a sigh. "How many times have I called Merlin a clumsy oaf or a fool, and I suppose I was the fool all along."
Gaius gurgled and said softly: "Merlin is sometimes really a clumsy one, after all, it was from this very hidden room that he freed the goblin who caused us quite a bit of trouble.
Arthur made big eyes and came out: "That was Merlin's fault? I really try to forget the embarrassing situations, but I don't really want to."
"Please be gentle with him. He then used his magic to undo all the goblin's enchantments," Gaius Merlin tried to defend Merlin.
"Yes, but the embarrassing memories still remain," Arthur complained.
Gaius just shrugged his shoulders helplessly and smiled. They said goodbye to each other and Arthur went back to his chamber.

Gwen was already waiting for him with a questioning expression on her face. He reported where he was and especially why he was gone. Gwen smiled insightfully and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at the books as well. What titles did you choose?"
Gwen began to leaf through the books. The Book of Prophecies' was an appealing title, but it turned out that the different languages and manuscripts were hard to decipher and that it was probably a very old book, so Gwen chose the title 'Prophecies'. When Gwen was already asleep, Arthur took the book out of her hand and carefully put his wife in her bed. He covered her up and thanked her in silence for not excluding Gwen from his life after all. He appreciated her own opinion and her good advice very much. Especially in the present time, when he himself was helpless and overwhelmed, Gwen seemed to him like a gift from heaven. Only slowly did he realize that he should be grateful not only for Gwen, but especially for the loyalty of his servant, friend and magician.