Gwen was seated by the fire in their bedroom, book in hand, when Arthur game in at nearly ten o'clock. He collapsed onto the bed.
"I 'm too tried to actually get ready for sleepy," he groaned.
She laughed. "So the talks went well then did they?"
"I don't know whose more frustrating to deal with. Relveer who refuses to trust a single word out of anyone's mouth but a druid's, or Mathias, who keeps trying to slip bans or restrictions into every conversation. Not," he amended, "that most of the others are making it particularly easy. The druids want a great deal more than Uther's prepared to give right now." He raised his head to look at her. "Do you think we could revisit the whole idea of just going away to some village and being peasants again? An anvil is starting to not look too bad."
Gwen laughed again, and crossing the room came over to sit on the bed beside him. "You say that now but remember a month ago, you were talking about banning them from the city."
He grinned. "That was a nice daydream. Maybe I could propose it in the peace talks." He took her hand in one of his. "How was your day?"
"I caught up with Lancelot and then just…read. Arthur-" She cut herself off.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. Well it's something but we can talk about it later."
He sat up. "Gwen if there's something wrong."
"No! Of course not. It can wait. Trust me." She kissed him and got up, moving over to the basin to wash her face and get ready for bed.
The truth was…she felt useless. A few official appearances and that was, it seemed all that was expected of her. But she was capable of more than that. In fact she was used to more than that. She had worked her entire life in one way or another, even if it was just taking care of the cottage when she was little and making sure there was dinner on the table when he returned from the forge. She had to do more.
But right now, with Arthur exhausted and things already strained in the castle was perhaps not the time. Or maybe, she thought, it wasn't an issue to take up with Arthur at all. It was Uther she had to show what she was capable of.
Gaius and Merlin entered his chambers and Gaius shut the door.
"Well for a first day that wasn't too mad, all things considered," said Gaius.
"Really? I thought it went pretty abysmally."
"These are only your first negotiations. People are still unsure of each other. Once things settle down a bit, I'm confident some progress can be made. Well I'm off for bed. It's an early start in the morning-"
"Actually...there's something I need to show you." Merlin pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Gaius.
It was a stained cloth, stiff from what stained it having dried. Gaius frowned and sniffed it. "Er…is this pea soup?"
"Yes."
"Why are you showing me pea soup?"
"That's the pea soup that fell off the table at lunch."
Gaius looked at Merlin questioningly.
Merlin took a deep breath and plunged on: "I was the one that knocked it off the table. With magic."
"Why would you do that?"
"I- I can't be sure. But I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, go into the soup. It looked like…magic. I'm not sure," he added hastily, "I could be wrong. But in the moment I didn't know what else to do but break it."
Gaius looked down at the cloth. "We'd better test this at once."
It was an hour later. Candles and a fire beat away the long shadows of night inside Gaius' chambers, as the man bent over his work table, Merlin standing at his side looking troubled. Both men had forgotten their exhaustion.
"It's confirmed," sighed Gaius at last, straightening. On the table in front of him the cloth lay, glowing a faint yellow. "It was poisoned. Magically."
"Why though? I mean if it was magic it had to be the druids."
"Or Morgana."
"She wouldn't have a reason too. It wouldn't make sense. It's as much in her interests as it is in mine that these talks go well."
Gaius tapped his fingers on the table and frowned. "But why would the druids do it."
"Maybe trying to kill Uther?" suggested Merlin.
"Everyone at that table, other than the druids, are important figures in Camelot. Morgana, Arthur, Guinevere, even you yourself now, could have been targets. But poisoning the soup, it would be completely unpredictable who would eat from that bowl. Furthermore, unless every druid there was in on it, a druid could just have easily eaten the soup. And I know Iseldir. He is a good man and would never be involved in that.
"Also," continued Gaius. "This poison would quickly have been identified as magical. Whoever did it was sloppy."
"Maybe it was someone who didn't care about the fall out as long as they did damage?"
"In which case we're dealing with someone very dangerous and very desperate. Merlin, you must keep a close eye on everything and everyone during this next week. If for one moment Uther suspects any of the druids of anything underhanded..."
"I know," Merlin agreed. "I think I should tell Arthur."
"You're sure that's wise?"
"A year ago I would have said no. But he's a changed man. It's important to him that peace with magic happens. I can trust him with this. And maybe Lancelot too? He can keep an eye on the druids and tell me what he knows about them. Might be able to help us figure out who's involved."
"Lancelot may be hard to persuade. They are his friends," Gaius reminded him.
"He's also an honorable man and will believe what I have to tell him about the poison. He's fair."
Gaius sighed. "We should sleep on it."
Merlin thought quickly for a moment and then headed for the door, saying overly his shoulder, "There's someone I have to see first."
Merlin raised the torch and watched as the flames cast shadows and light across the wide open cavern. He heard the breathing before his eyes adjusted enough to see the movement, and in another second the dragon's head was feet away from him, looking down.
"If it's not the young warlock. It has been a very long time since I have seen you," said the dragon, its tone unreadable. "I believe you promised to free me once, over a year ago now."
"Yes, well," Merlin coughed. "I sort of…forgot about that."
"You forgot about a great many things," admonished the dragon. "All of which I could have reminded you of if you had but come to me."
"With Arthur out of everyone's head, I didn't have any memory of ever having talked to you-" Merlin cut off as the implication of the dragon's words hit home. "Wait. You mean…the spell didn't affect you? You remembered Arthur?"
"Of course I did," the dragon sneered. "I am a dragon. You need more far more powerful magic then that witch possessed to affect my kind."
"But-…why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you call me? You've done it before."
The dragon gave what was decidedly a smirk. "I admit, I was having too much fun. It was quite amusing. Uther's pride and joy, the son he sacrificed all to create, working as a blacksmith." He gave a deep rumbling chuckle. "It was truly priceless."
"Uther almost executed Arthur while you enjoying the 'joke'," said Merlin, angrily.
"Yes, the future of Albion was nearly sacrificed for poetic justice. What can I say? Even I can be petty sometimes."
"Right," said Merlin, setting his jaw. "Look what about what's going on now?"
"Now?" The dragon crossed its front legs and rested its head down on top of them.
"Yes. The talks with the druids."
The dragon tilted its head, almost in a shrug. "Now young warlock things are not so simple. Dark times are on the horizon. Shadows threaten Camelot. But worse, shadows threaten everything you and Arthur are meant to achieve. Beware young warlock and take care. Or Albion will never see the light of day."