Balinor watched as the Barion siblings (minus one, Balinor's mind supplied, Shut up, he told it) played dice in a small anteroom off of Hywell's room. The feast had been amazing as had been usual for Camelot. Uther had prided himself on having some of the finest cooks in all of Albion, and it was obvious that his son too, enjoyed fine food.
But that wasn't what was on Balinor's mind. No, in fact, his mind had wandered onto the topic of Arthur's manservant, Merlin.
He had felt it, just for a blindingly, brilliant second, but long enough to know one thing about the boy.
He had magic.
Balinor was sure that the boy had felt his own magic as well, if the look on the boy's face had anything to do with it.
But now Balinor was left with the blinding question of what he should do.
If he told King Arthur about the servant, then there would be the question of how he had known, which could potentially ruin any chances he had of creating an alliance with Camelot.
On the other hand, if he stayed silent, and Merlin meant harm to the young monarch, then Balinor would always know that King Arthur's death would be on his hands.
But then, yet again, Arthur could know about Merlin, and allow him to use his magic. Perhaps now, Merlin himself was telling Arthur about Balinor's own magic.
Or maybe Arthur didn't know about the boy's magic, and Merlin was simply trying to live his life. Maybe there really was no reason to worry.
Besides, there was… something about the boy, and Balinor couldn't quite put his finger on it yet, but Merlin's presence felt… familiar. If Balinor tried hard enough, he could feel a warmth to it, an instinct within him that made him want to protect Merlin.
Balinor shook his head in frustration. There was no point in trying to sit here and figure the boy out. What happened in Camelot had nothing to do with him. He was just here to negotiate terms for an alliance, and that was it.
"Balinor, are you feeling well?"
Broken out of his reverie, Balinor looked up, to find that while Nasyra and Hywell were fighting about the dice game, their older brother, Caradoc had snuck up on him.
"Just tired, Caradoc, I feel that it is time for me to retire for the night," and, standing up, Balinor inclined his head to his other two knights, who, having stopped their argument, repeated the gesture back. "I shall see all of you for the beginning of tomorrow's fun and games."
As Balinor turned, he thought he heard Hywell groan under his breath, and couldn't help as his mouth twitched ever so slightly. The siblings had always been a source for entertainment.
Standing outside of the now shut door, Balinor squeezed his eyes shut, and took a deep breath. It had been twenty-five years, and yet her death still haunted him to this day.
Suddenly, Balinor felt the overwhelming urge to get out of there.
This place brought back too many memories, good and bad, and the only person who he ever felt like he could talk to was dead.
Except, Hunith's uncle lived and worked here in Camelot didn't he?
With newfound resolve, Balinor moved away from their guest quarters, and made his way to the physician's chambers, in hopes that Gaius was awake.
Finally, after going down two wrong corridors, accidentally ending up in the wrong tower, Balinor found himself outside the door to the physician's quarters, a small glow emanating from below the door told him that the physician was still awake.
Knocking on the door, Balinor heard the shuffling from inside stop, and make its way to the door.
Needless to say, when the door was opened Balinor was not prepared to come face to face with the very person who was on his mind.
Neither was Merlin.