A/N: This chapter is dedicated to reader kanna-yamamoto, who favorited this story. I thank you for your support, and I hope you and the other readers enjoy this chapter! :D

-C

Merlin and Krysia decided to get a closer look at this Edwin, to see if they could discover what Gaius seemed so keen to figure out. Merlin knocked on his chamber door.

"Edwin?"

No answer came, so they moved into the room, beginning to examine his equipment. Krysia was going through his herbs, but nothing appeared out of the common way. Merlin, on the other hand, was looking at a box. He opened it, and she gasped when she saw that it was full of strange beetles. He closed it and read an inscription on the top.

"Bebeode þe arisan ealdu."

There was a strange sound, and Krysia frowned as he opened it again. The beetles, which had been still before, were suddenly moving.

"Very good."

They turned sharply to find Edwin watching them, a twisted smile on his disfigured face. Merlin knocked over a jar of powder and handed the box to Edwin, startled. Edwin waved his hand over the box and said, "Swefn." The bugs were once again still. "You have magic."

"No he doesn't," Krysia said quickly. "He didn't do anything."

She knew it was a stretch, but in her moment of panic she couldn't think of anything better. He hadn't seen Krysia use magic, so it could have been worse, but this could only end badly as it was.

"Then how else did he bring them to life?" Edwin said, smiling at her condescendingly. "Only magic can do such a thing. These little angels are how I cured Lady Morgana. They repaired the damage to her brain. They saved her life. Magic can be a force for good."

"I know," Merlin said, considering the box once more.

"Then why do you fear it?"

"Uther has it banned; it's not permitted."

"Should I have let Lady Morgana die?" Edwin pressed.

Krysia and Merlin hesitated, exchanging a look. This had been a question plaguing them time and time again, and no matter how much she hated to say it, she had to say, "No, of course not."

Edwin smiled a little more, unnervingly.

"People like us, Merlin, we have a gift. Do you not think it should be used to make this a better world?"

"Perhaps," Merlin said slowly. Krysia was actually quite proud of him, being evasive and cautious. It seemed she and Gaius were making some impression on him after all. Merlin turned and began cleaning up the powder he spilled.

"Don't waste your time picking that up," Edwin chided. "Feormian dærst rénian."

Krysia watched the powder fly back into the jar. Even though it was harmless, such small magic made her more uncomfortable than the thought of saving someone's life with magic. To be caught for such a small, pointless thing….

"Why waste talent like that?" Edwin continued. "And I can teach you."

Merlin said nothing for a moment, holding Edwin's gaze. Then he said, "Rǽdan ásce géatan." The powder was poured into a bowl as though an invisible hand was moving the jar. Edwin seemed pleased.

"What do you use this for?"

"He doesn't," Krysia said darkly. "Gaius does not approve. It is dangerous to use carelessly."

"A gift like his should be nurtured," Edwin argued, "practised, enjoyed. You need someone to help you, Merlin, to encourage you."

Krysia definitely did not like the direction this was heading, and she glanced over at Merlin uneasily. He seemed uncomfortable as well, and he simply said, "Perhaps."

"Imagine what we could achieve," Edwin pressed, "if we shared our knowledge."

"We should be getting back," Merlin said sharply.

"Of course," Edwin said, bowing his head slightly. "But you both must promise to keep our secret safe."

Krysia recognized that this stipulation was not entirely meant for Merlin, but for her. Edwin saw her as the outsider, the one who was not like them, the one who was too close to Gaius for comfort. She nodded and said, "We will."

But Krysia had no problem lying to a man whose face she could not read.

Edwin turned to Merlin and said, "People like you and I, we must look out for each other."

Krysia could feel the unsaid wedge he was trying to drive between Krysia and Merlin, and from the way Merlin caught her eye as they left the room, she knew he could feel it too.

/-/

Later on that night, Krysia was mending some of Merlin's shirts when there was a knock at the door. Gaius did not look up.

"Come in," Krysia said, not sure that he'd heard the knock as he was so lost in his reading. When the door opened, Gaius glanced up. Geoffrey entered with a book in hand, covered by cloth.

"Gaius," Geoffrey said, moving into the room slowly, "you've been a good friend to me over the years, and you've done me many kindnesses. I can't deny you this one request."

"The records?" Gaius hissed.

"I know you wouldn't ask unless it was important," Geoffrey said, setting the book down on the corner of the table.

"You must believe me, there is a great deal at stake."

"If Uther were to discover this," Geoffrey said darkly, "he would kill all three of us."

Krysia's stomach dropped as she met Geoffrey's eye, then looked at the back of Gaius's head. Whatever he expected to find, he was risking her life twice over. It had to be very important indeed.

"Gaius," she said softly, feeling nauseous. But he did not pay her any mind. Geoffrey could understand her fear as what his own was.

"It is for Uther's sake that I make the request," Gaius said to Geoffrey. "Trust me, please." Geoffrey pushed the book into Gaius's hands with a look of great difficulty on his face. "Thank you, old friend."

After a night staying up with Gaius, reading her own family's section in the records and crying quietly to herself at the names of her murdered brothers and sisters before falling asleep face first on the table, she was woken up not by the sound of Gaius still turning pages, but of Merlin opening the door and coming out, fully dressed. She frowned, stretching and nodding. It seemed a bit early for him to be up.

"Before you say anything," she said as she peeled a strand of blonde hair off her face where it had stuck in her sleep, "yes, we were up all night. Well, obviously, I feel asleep. But it seems like not for long. It's beastly early."

"Yes," Gaius muttered, frowning at the page he was on. "But it was worth it. Where are you going, Merlin?"

"Er, I told Edwin I'd be up at dawn to collect some supplies."

Krysia sat up, feeling suddenly alert, narrowing her eyes at Merlin, who was not meeting her gaze. When had they made this arrangement, and what supplies was he talking about? She looked between him and Gaius and considered her options. Gaius obviously would get on fine without her, but despite Merlin's increased ability to manage himself, she felt very uneasy about letting him go out on his own.

"We'd better go and fetch them, then," she said, quickly combing her fingers through her hair and letting her hands tie up her locks in a familiar fashion. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Merlin did not meet her gaze still, but merely followed her out of the room.

"What is he having you do?" she asked as they walked out of the corridor.

"Herbs," he said darkly. "I don't like this, Krysia. You've seen what he's done as well as I have, but there's something not right here."

Krysia nodded thoughtfully and stopped in her tracks. A plan was coming to her. If Gaius found something like she thought he'd found, she would be able to learn what he knew only if she were in the right place at the right time, and knowing Merlin's propensity for messing up things well-meaningly, it would be best if she waited alone.

"You go on and do what you've got to do," she said. "I have some things I have to do for the king."

If what Gaius had told Geoffrey was true, it was for Uther, in a sense. Merlin asked no questions, heading off toward the town. Krysia crept through the castle instead, letting herself quietly into Edwin's chambers. She could hear him changing in the back and hid behind a drape, adjusting herself so that she would not be seen and would not need to move much. If she did, however, she shifted the drape to give her enough space to not be noticed. If it moved at all, it should be small enough of a shift to be attributed to a light breeze.

Then all she had to do was wait.

The wait was not long. When the door opened, she knew it had to be Gaius. His voice confirmed it a moment later.

"Edwin," he said. "Your scar has healed well. I often wondered what happened to that poor young boy."

"I told you we've never met before," Edwin said, and Krysia held her breath, focusing on her breathing as much as listening so that she would be quiet enough when she could no longer hold in her breath.

"I didn't realize who you were until I checked the records. You used your mother's maiden name. You are Gregor and Jaden's son."

"They were friends of yours."

"They were sorcerers," Gaius said, in a tone so hard that Krysia wondered what they must have done.

"They practised magic," Edwin said slowly. "And so did a lot of people back then, Gaius."

"Uther will be furious when he finds out who you are."

"Fine," Edwin said, amused. Krysia could feel her palms begin to sweat. "Fine. Shall we tell him? Let's go and tell him. Let's tell him. Let's tell him everything. Oh, I know…. We could also tell him about Merlin."

Krysia gripped her hands into fists so tight that she could feel her short nails digging into her skin.

"Merlin?" Gaius said, sounding confused. If Krysia hadn't known him so well, she might have believed he truly didn't know.

"You didn't know he was a sorcerer?" Edwin said, mocking. "I bet you did know about the girl." Her heart began to pound and her knees nearly gave out. "I haven't seen her do it, that Krysia, but I was old enough to remember the face of her mother when she died. Very pretty. She isn't at all phased by magic, but talking about it makes her very, very nervous. Do you think she'd look pretty with a noose around her neck? I bet Uther would. Ah, there's that look. You look at her like a daughter, don't you? I wonder what Uther will do. Probably have them burnt."

She was finding it harder and harder to breathe. This man knew who she was, knew what she was. She could see the writing on the wall.

"You would betray another sorcerer?" Gaius said, a small hint of panic in his voice.

But it was over. Krysia knew it. She would die.

"You did. When you turned a blind eye and let my parents die at the hands of Uther! Let Krysia's family die. One little girl safe for the lives of how many? At least her parents made a deal, preserved her. That's what they did, isn't it? That's why she's here. At least Merlin doesn't have a son who will try to rescue him from the flames!"

Krysia was growing dizzy. His face suddenly seemed tragic to her rather than repulsive. If she had been in his shoes, would she have done the same, to save her mother and father and sisters and brothers? Would she have thrown herself into a fire after them?

She had been in the woods when they were burned. She would never know.

"You're here to take revenge," Gaius said calmly.

"And I have waited a long time."

"You think I will sacrifice the King to save Merlin?"

"I do not know," Edwin said slowly. "I think it very likely. But I certainly think you'd sacrifice Camelot to save Krysia. Think about it, Gaius. But if I find out that you've told one other person, including either of them, I will go straight to Uther."

The door opened and Krysia covered her mother to keep from gasping at Merlin's voice.

"I got your provisions," he said.

"Oh, thank you, Merlin," Edwin said, his voice back to being pleasant, only now Krysia could hear quite plainly the falseness in it. "Gaius was just reminiscing about old times, weren't you, Gaius?"

There was a short pause and Gaius said tightly, "Yes."

He was buying them time. But how much could that do?

"But now, I must get back to work."

Merlin and Gaius both left, and Krysia realized that she hadn't thought things through very well. She was standing behind the curtain for quite some time, hoping that something would prompt Edwin to leave the room long enough to let her escape, but whatever he was up to, pouring over papers, she was certainly not getting the opportunity she needed.

Finally, she had to resort to desperate measures. She hissed an incantation under her breath and there was a knocking at the door. Edwin stood to see who it was about and she hissed another, pushing her arm forward violently. He crumpled to the ground, hitting his head on the bench on the way down. She paused long enough to ensure that he would wake within his own power soon enough, and in good health, before hurrying back to speak to Gaius.

He was touching a page of the court records when Krysia entered, and frowning. She didn't have to look to know it was the page about her family.

"You couldn't have saved them, Gaius," Krysia said softly.

Gaius started slightly at her voice, looking up at her with sad eyes.

"Couldn't I? I saved others. I saved you. I saved…. Well, that doesn't matter now. The important thing is, I chose to save some and not others."

"You could not have saved such a large, prominent family," Krysia said, sitting down across from him. "My mother's face would have been known anywhere she went, and so many children to be raised without their mother? The only way to hide us would have been to split us up, scatter us, and the youngest maybe never knowing the truth. I was too young to care for siblings in the woods. You did all that you reasonably could." She closed the book before he could protest and said, "I was hiding in Edwin's room. I heard everything."

A shadow crossed his face and he nodded slowly, standing and crossing to the window.

"You did not tell me he knew."

"I didn't think he knew about me," Krysia said slowly. "And I didn't think it my place to speak for Merlin. But I should have known better. Should I…?"

"No, no, you heard him," Gaius sighed. "Merlin and I cannot discuss this, and I think it best if you don't mention it to him either. He's not as good a liar as you. Not as practised."

Krysia didn't feel that being a good liar was such a grand accomplishment, but she nodded. It would be a challenge to hide what she knew from Edwin, but she'd been hiding as much from Uther all her life. What was another lie, more or less? And knowing helped her keep an eye on Edwin and whatever revenge he was planning in a way Gaius could not.

"Do me a favor," Gaius said slowly. "Unless there is immediate danger to the king...do not tell me anything you learn. I don't want him to think that you are too dangerous to him to be quiet about. Merlin he likely thinks he can sway, but you are something different. He thinks he is holding the right information. Let him think that."

Krysia nodded, running her fingers along the table gingerly, avoiding splinters.

"What are you going to say to Merlin?"

"Nothing," Gaius said quickly. "Nothing at all. I've already told him to do whatever Edwin asks of him. I hardly think I need to tell you that you should do the same."

The thought made Krysia feel a bit sick to her stomach, but she assured Gaius that in spite of her difficulties, she would do as asked.

/-/

Krysia walked back from her errands that night feeling uneasy. She had passed Edwin and he had given her a smooth, smug sort of greeting after coming from the council chamber. Whatever he had discussed with the king, it couldn't spell anything good.

"Krysia?"

Leon was watching her from the end of the corridor as she shivered.

"Sir Leon," she said, smiling, forcing herself to think of something else, anything brighter than whatever Edwin was up to. "Have you seen Gaius? He was going to run some late errands and I wanted to see if I could catch him without going all the way back to his chambers."

"I have not," he said, frowning slightly. "Is it safe for him to be out by himself at this time of night?"

Krysia tilted her head, unsure what he was suggesting.

"Why would it not be? Is the castle in some sort of danger?"

"No...nothing like that."

And then it occurred to her, what must be passing through the castle in whispers since Morgana's recovery.

"Sir Leon, Gaius may be old, but he has all his wits about him and he is still the brilliant physician we have always known him to be. He is perfectly capable."

"Forgive me," he said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I didn't mean to offend you, Krysia. Would you like me to accompany you?"

Krysia shook her head, thanked him, and set off again in a dark mood. But her mood was darkened more as she saw Gaius creeping through the halls down toward the dungeon. Careful to keep her footfall soft so as not to startle or alert him, she followed him down into the increasingly familiar domain of the great dragon. She hid in the darkness leading down the the cave and listened carefully for Gaius's voice. She was not long in waiting.

"Hello? It is me, Gaius."

Had he spoken to the dragon before? She held her breath.

There was a sound of beating wings as the dragon approached, and then he perched on one of the large stone formations and said, "How old a man can become and yet change so little."

Krysia let her fingers curl into the cold, slightly damp rock beside her face as she leaned forward.

"You have not changed either."

"Twenty years, almost a lifetime to make the short journey back to where you began."

She frowned, trying to puzzle out what that could mean. What journey? Began what?

"I'm not here for myself."

Kilgharrah's voice was amused as he said, "The boy or the girl?"

"You know about Merlin and Krysia?"

"The girl hides in plain sight. It is not long until everyone knows of her. Protecting her is not protecting her. Only in becoming herself can she fulfill her destiny. And you have struggled against not only her destiny, but the boy's as well. You can no more prevent it than he can."

"I know nothing of what you say of Krysia's destiny," Gaius said slowly. "But Merlin…. It is true, then?"

"Oh, yes. He and the young Pendragon will one day unite the land of Albion. And the offspring of Lady Krysia will one day save Albion from utter ruin."

"But they are in danger, Krysia and Merlin."

"No," Kilgharrah said, his voice bold and defiant. "It is my jailer who stands in peril."

Krysia's heart raced. But surely it wasn't that simple. Either they were in danger, or Uther was in danger. Until a path was chosen, all were in peril equally, weren't they?

"Must Uther be sacrificed for them?"

"Their time cannot come until his is past."

"But is that time now?"

The dragon began to laugh a laugh so dark and cold that Krysia could feel her blood chilling in her veins. She shivered once more, clutching at the stone even harder to keep her balance.

"That is of your choosing."

"I will not choose between them," Gaius said firmly.

"Will you not?" Kilgharrah chided, his voice bored. "Then turn a blind eye. That is, after all, your talent."

Krysia ran back up the increasingly familiar path from the cave, feeling her heart pounding desperately in her chest as she realized that Gaius would not help her, whatever he might be able to do. And as this was the first time in her life she recognized herself as not being the most important thing to Gaius, she was suddenly very much afraid.