"You are a magician!" Gareth uttered in surprise. He was on his feet early this morning, as he urgently wanted to visit his mother and also had to look after Sir Gwaine. He had not thought that the duties of a squire would take up so much of his time. Actually a squire had far less to do. But he had made it his business to stay close to Berta, Warrick, Tea or Bronwen and always give them a hand when help was needed. He was still amazed at how much he had learned in the last few days and it filled him with pride that his work counted for something. He was lost in thought and pondering over Merlin's behavior and talents when he suddenly appeared before him and both could barely avoid a collision.
"You can do magic," exclaimed Gareth in surprise, gazing briefly into Merlin's eyes, but then looking down on the ground.
Merlin tried to laugh and said distractingly, "That was no magic, but years of practice in avoiding collisions.
Gareth raised his eyes again and could only stare at him.
Merlin felt even more uncomfortable now. He didn't know what to say to Gareth to take away his shyness and maybe even his fear.
When Gareth suddenly knelt down before him, Merlin could only ask in astonishment, "What are you doing? Are you confusing me with Arthur right now? Has your head injury been worse after all?"
Gareth shook his head and said, "No, my head is fine now thanks to you, and I am not confusing you with the King, Merlin.
"Then why are you crouching on the ground?" Merlin asked indecisively.
"I want to thank you in an appropriate way. You not only took care of my head injury and made sure I got a second chance, but you did something much more important for me.
"It was your work and courage that allowed you to make a good new start in Camelot," Merlin replied.
"That may be, but I know now for certain that it is only because of you that I did not become a cowardly murderer. I can still look into my mother's eyes and bear my reflection in them," Gareth said softly, looking down at the ground.
Merlin grabbed Gareth by the arm and pulled him back onto his feet. "Where do you come up with such a thing," Merlin began to fend him off.
Gareth had still lowered his gaze and whispered, "Don't take me for a fool. You used your magic to distract my arrow and made the next one jump out of my hand. It was so obvious that I can hardly believe I didn't see it before, but after I saw it..."
"What did you see?" Merlin asked anxiously.
"I was also in the royal chambers and your eyes were shining in a bright gold as you slowly awoke from your fainting."
Merlin was about to reply when Gareth quietly but forcefully promised: "I would never mention this or tell anyone. On the contrary, it is your decision when and how, or even if you share this secret. But rest assured that I will keep your secret."
Merlin stared at him only in disbelief until a jolt went through his body and he embraced Gareth briefly but strongly with the following words: "The support of a brave young man is not to be sneezed at. With a short nod and a whispered 'thank you' Merlin said goodbye and was already turned around the next corner. Gareth could only stare at Merlin. He had thought that a wizard would only smile at his thanks and energy. After all, he was a nobody, had neither gold nor power. It filled him with warmth that Merlin not only took him seriously, but showed him respect and friendship. Furthermore, he had called him brave. He resolved to become even more fearless.

But now he was no longer allowed to waste his time. He had the tiresome task of finding Sir Gwaine. Either he was still in bed or in a tavern - neither would be a pleasure. Waking Sir Gwaine was always a new challenge, because you never knew what mood the knight was in. If he was still in the tavern, Gareth would not imagine the knight's condition. To escape this work a little bit he quickly went to his mother's house. He hadn't had much time and he didn't even know what she filled her hours with. He carefully knocked on the door and after a quiet 'come in' he went into the house. He looked around curiously. So this had been the home of the queen. It was kept tidy and very simple. His mother smiled at him and put aside needle and thread.
"And I thought you had forgotten me," she said rebuking.
"No, I would never," he said and let her ruffle his hair. Actually, he usually found that rather annoying, after all, he was no longer a little boy, but there was something comforting about it. All of a sudden, he didn't know whether there weren't advantages to being a boy who went through life without many worries. He rejected these thoughts again.
"Look at you! Dressed like a real squire, which you are now. How proud I am of you! You must tell me everything," his mother asked him.
So he told her in detail about the robbery, his stay in the dungeon and his work as a squire.
"You simply knocked that witch unconscious! When I think about what could have happened to you," Eluned worried.
"I hadn't thought of that at the time. I just wanted to stop her so she couldn't do any more damage. Are all wizards like that?", he asked gloomily.
His mother chose her words carefully: "Are they all like that? Uther was absolutely sure, but ..." she sighed, "it is definitely wrong to execute a peaceful druid or wizard just because he might commit a crime in the future. One must let the deeds speak and not one's own fear.
"Are you very afraid of wizards?", Gareth followed up.
"Yes, but I am even more afraid of narrow-minded kings who cover countries with war and let good people die for it.
"You're talking about your late husband, am I right? He died in battle." Seeing the pain in their eyes, he asked no further questions. To take her mind off it, he suggested: "Come, I urgently need to find my knight and remind him of the next council meeting. I hope he's not back at the tavern already."
This made Eluned laugh.
When Gareth realized the irony of his situation as well, he smiled as well. "Yes, yes, it's okay. It serves me right", Gareth said insightfully and shrugged his shoulders.
She nodded and said, "I'd really like to meet him. But I would be even more pleased to meet Merlin again".
Gareth frowned anxiously: "Why?"
Eluned thought about the question. "I can't really tell you. He gives me riddles. He does not behave like a simple servant."
"He is, after all, the king's servant," he tried to give thought.
"Yes, I know. That could be it," she said, but not quite convinced.
Gareth had to bite his tongue not to tell his mother that she was absolutely right. After all, Merlin was a servant with magical powers. No wonder he stood out after all. This explained all his self-confidence and fearlessness. Still, he had given his word not to betray Merlin's secret, and that included his mother, he discovered. He tried a diversion. "Mother, I really have to go and Sir..." However, he was interrupted by his mother.
"It's okay, you have to go. I got it. But I'll accompany you to the tavern," she said with a raised index finger and a slight reproach in her voice.
Both had visited several taverns briefly, but did not find the knight they were looking for. "Shall we meet in the courtyard of the castle in one hour? I will probably inquire in the castle whether he has already got up or whether the honor of waking him up today is due to me."
Gareth really hoped he would find Sir Gwaine soon and it was somehow important to him that his mother and knight got along. He could not really imagine this meeting. Would the knight perhaps flatter his mother? He felt sick at the thought.
On the way to Sir Gwaine's room Tea met him. He noticed that she stopped suddenly and looked through him. The moment passed quickly and suddenly Tea looked directly at him.
"Is everything all right with you?", Gareth asked cautiously. He knew she was a girl - younger than he probably was - but he could not judge her very well.
"I don't know. What's so bad about firelight? If only I could understand it," she replied frustrated.
"Can I maybe help?", Gareth asked uncertainly.
"Yes, perhaps," said Tea again with a blurred look.

_

"This is it! Finally I have found it. The solution was all the time within reach. Aithusa! Where are you? I need you," excitedly exclaimed Morgana.
The Dragon Lady felt increasingly uncomfortable around Morgana. Although Morgana didn't notice any change, Aithusa could see that the High Priestess was becoming more and more desperate and unpredictable. Until now, the Dragon Lady could hide her contact with the Great Dragon as well as her meetings from the witch. She tried again and again to sneak away and learn from the great dragon. She admired Kilgharrah, because his knowledge was incredibly considerable. She thought reverently about the secrets that Kilgharrah had told her. She also wanted to see Merlin again. She missed his closeness and the comforting warm and healing feeling of his touch. The Dragon Lady wanted to proudly show Merlin how much she had already learned from the great dragon. She also hoped that they could talk to each other in the meantime.
"Aithusa!"
She flinched at her name and crawled carefully in Morgana's direction. The dragon lady saw that the witch had previously studied a yellowed parchment.
"Come at last. Here it is. You must put your dragon's breath on this sword and I will prevail."
The Dragon Lady refused to obey Morgana. She knew by now whom Morgana wanted to kill with the sword and she shuddered at the thought.
"Come, come, my friend. You have saved me and you can save me again," flattered the witch Aithusa.
The Dragon Lady didn't want to upset Morgana either, but she felt this request was so wrong. The witch became restless. She realized that Aithusa did not want to fulfill this favor.
"Aithusa! What are you waiting for? I know you can do it."
The Dragon Lady noticed how suddenly an undertow arose, telling her that she had to do this. The more she resisted, the more painful this pull became. She began to whimper and flap her tail around. She heard a female voice telling her that all she had to do was to send out her dragon breath and she would get better. Her innermost being still drove her to resist the voice. She could not remember why, but she knew it was important not to give in. Something bad would happen if she gave in. The seconds dragged on slowly and she had just hoped that the drag would level off when an all-encompassing pain exploded inside her that made any thought impossible. Once again she heard a pressing voice telling her to finally give in. The moment a certain side became too tense, the connection broke, but a tiny moment before, Aithusa expelled her breath against her will and her world turned black.

Slowly, Aithusa awoke. She still felt the pain, but fortunately it had already subsided. But she did not feel Morgana. She looked around and realized that she was indeed alone. Then she shook her head and tried to clear it. Morgana had been so aroused. Aithusa had to figure out why. It was important. Morgana wanted something from her and one power pushed her to do it, another wanted to stop her. She did not understand, but Kilgharrah certainly knew. She concentrated and felt the life energy of the dragon at the edge of her consciousness. It was far away, but that was secondary. She urgently needed to talk to him. She didn't know how to reach Merlin and it was probably a bad idea to fly directly to the castle in Camelot. The Great Dragon had taught her not to show herself in front of other people. She began to stretch out her wings, using movement to drive away the pain and set off to fly.

_

Kilgharrah was amazed when he noticed the dragon lady. They had agreed that they should not see each other too often, so that Morgana would not suspect and wonder where Aithusa was so often. He was very far away from her cave and didn't want to see her again for a week. Even if a white dragon was a good omen, a bad feeling still spread in him. It certainly didn't mean anything good that she had taken the long way on herself. She landed elegantly a few meters away from him and he could only admire her for her elegance.
She greeted him and hardly waited for his greeting before she said to him in her thoughts: "I'm afraid something has happened, but I don't know exactly...". The bad feeling in his stomach intensified - new problems, new decisions, new possible ways.
Aithusa told about her last encounter with Morgana and what had happened. The great dragon tried to suppress his horror. The dragon lady was not aware of how deadly the sword became through her magic and he could not imagine the devastating effects such a blade could have in Morgana's hands. Aithusa waited patiently until the dragon finally replied. She could tell from the sun that several hours must have passed. She slowly began to suspect that Kilgharrah must have fallen asleep when she suddenly heard his voice.
"You cannot imagine how deadly this weapon is. Your instinct was right to refuse this service. I don't even know where to start, but there is much to do now. I have an idea how you might be able to help Merlin. He made sure he had her full attention and asked cautiously, "Do you want to fight alongside Merlin and Arthur?"
Kilgharrah was almost bowled over by their approving rush of emotion.
"What about Morgana?" he asked further.
The Dragon Lady was not sure. She no longer felt the bond between her and Morgana, but she didn't know if it was really destroyed.
"We cannot change this. It is the way it is. I have a task for you which will be very dangerous and to be ready for it, you have a lot to learn.
Aithusa didn't need much thought for a decision and answered with joyful conviction: "I will do everything in my power to protect Merlin.
The great dragon nodded contentedly and said, "Well, let's get started."

So heres a new chapter for all my readers.

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