Throughout my nightmares, a voice kept calling out. My name echoing throughout my dreams, jerking me back to awareness. and it took me several heartbeats to remember where I was. The early morning sun lit up my bedchambers, the sounds of someone tinkering away downstairs, chasing away the last of the horrors from my dreams. Unfortunately, the horrors of my real life remained. I lay in bed for a few moments, trying to dispel the images of what I had seen yesterday. The thoughts of the poor old woman who was, no doubt, spending this morning grieving for a son who had been taken from her by a hateful King, determined to destroy any trace of Magick and the Old Religion.

With an exhausted sigh, I rose from the bed, walking over to the makeshift vanity and sitting down, staring at the reflection looking back at me. Nothing special. Eyes that shifted between blue and green depending on the way the light hit them. Eyes that could just as easily turn to gold if I chose to use the magick within me. Some of my hair had come loose from its pins as I'd slept and I was now left with half of it hanging limp and dirty down my back, the other half somehow having survived my night of tossing and turning. It would have been too much hassle to remove the rest of the pins and wash it right now, so I just fixed the bits that had fallen down back up and covered it with my hat. I wasn't interested in attracting any male attention, right now, anyway. With that thought in mind, I changed out of my dirty clothes, replacing them with a new pair of breeches and a lighter-weight tunic, leaving the bandages wrapped around my chest for now. I'd start unravelling that mess when I cleaned myself up, later. For now, I had a castle to explore and a life to start. There was no point in hiding myself away in my room, this was my life now and I had to make the best of it. For my sake and my mother's.

I made my way downstairs, watching Gaius as he prepared breakfast and sitting down at the only table that had been cleared. He placed a bowl of porridge in front of me, not saying a word, and I wondered whether I should be relieved to see food I recognised or disappointed that it was not some Camelot delicacy. Gaius sat across from me, a bowl in his own hands, and motioned towards a bucket of water that had been resting at the edge of the table.

"I got you water. You didn't wash last night." He tried, uncertain of how to talk to me. The stranger he had been tasked with caring for. I smiled weakly, thankful that he was trying.

"Sorry." I didn't really know what I was supposed to say and he just nodded, understandingly.

"Help yourself to breakfast." He said, pointing at my untouched bowl and I picked up the spoon, pushing it back and forth through the porridge. I wasn't hungry. It felt weird, trying to eat, with a stranger watching my every move. When I didn't start eating Gaius turned towards the bucket of water, knocking it over, and before I could even think about it I had stood up, freezing it in midair. He gasped and I released my hold on it, the bucket and its contents spilling across the stone floor. I turned to glare at him. He had just done that on purpose! To see what I would do! I was not a problem for him to solve and I wasn't a jester, brought here to entertain him!

"How did you do that? Did you say a spell in your mind?" He asked, curiosity burning in his eyes and I turned away, going to fetch the mop I had noticed resting by the door.

"I don't know any spells," I answered, defensively.

"Then what did you do? There must be something." I turned back to him, the mop now in hand, and his wise blue eyes stared into mine. I looked away, shaking my head. His voice was kind, he hadn't meant to offend me in any way, he just wanted to understand. But how could I explain something I didn't understand myself?

"It just happens." I finally answered, beginning to mop away the water before it could spread any further.

"Well, we best keep you out of trouble. You can help me until I find some paid work for you to do. Here." I looked up to find him handing me two vials of something or other. "Holly Hock & Fever Few for Lady Persevore and this is for Sir Ealwin, he's as blind as a weevil so warn him not to take it all at once." I nodded, trying my best not to appear ungrateful. Whatever else he might do, or think, he had taken me in. A complete stranger. And he had tried to predict what I would need; the vanity, breakfast and the bucket of water, proof of that. It wasn't his fault I had been sent here, and it wasn't his fault that I had no control of myself where Magick was concerned. He was trying to make the best of it and I had to do the same.

"Okay." He took the mop out of my hands as I took the vials from him, placing the purple one into my left pocket and the yellow into the other, hoping that I would remember which was which when it came time to hand them over. Gaius also handed me a sandwich, noticing I had yet to touch my food, and this time, my smile was genuine.

"Off you go." He ordered and I headed towards the door, Gaius calling me back before I could open it. "And Merlin? I need hardly tell you that the practice of any form of enchantments will get you killed." I nodded, taking his warning seriously, before leaving the room. Eating my sandwich along the way, my stomach finally settling enough for me to enjoy it.

I reached sir Ealwin's room first and knocked on the door; he opened it rather quickly, looking at something over my shoulder. I turned to see what had drawn his attention before kicking myself when I remembered that he was blind.

"Erm… I brought you your medicine." I put my hand out to give it to him, gently enclosing his calloused fingers around the small vial before turning to find Lady Persevore's chambers, Gaius' warning coming into my mind before I had made it more than a few steps. I hurried to turn back to the blind Knight.

"Oh, Gaius said not to drink it all…" It was too late; he was already guzzling it down like an alcoholic drinking his first pint of the day. He finished swallowing and looked in my general direction again.

"I'm sure it's fine." I hoped, sighing at myself. The one thing that Gaius had asked me to do and I had screwed it up already.

Lady Persevore wasn't in her chambers but her maidservant had taken the vial from me, promising to make sure she got it, so with nothing else to do I decided to explore a little. Making my way towards the market I had passed on my way to the castle, yesterday. A man's voice breaking through my thoughts as I reached the castle square.

"Where's the target?" I found myself unable to look away from the young man in front of me, his attention fixed on someone I couldn't see from my position by the castle doors. He was handsome, more so than any other man I'd seen in my sheltered life back in Ealdor. Blonde hair cut fairly short but a little unruly, sticking out in places and a well-defined body from what I could see beneath his armour. I looked down at myself, wishing I had taken the time to bathe and dress properly before remembering that a Knight wouldn't look at me twice, anyway. They held a high-standing in the court whereas I was just a nobody. A girl who had been sent away from her home to find some purpose to her life. Still, that didn't mean I couldn't admire him. His eyes were deep blue, a far brighter shade than I'd ever seen, and it made my stomach turn anxiously when he looked my way. His eyes, of course, skipping right past me as he glanced around. I took the steps leading down to the main square, careful not to trip down them and make an idiot out of myself, before turning to look at who he'd been speaking to. It was one of the castle servants, a boy who seemed to be a year or so younger than myself and the Knight who had been addressing him. He was pointing towards the target he had been asked about, seeming nervous to be the focus of the Knight's attention. "It's into the sun." The Knight pointed out and the servant stared back at him, warily.

"It's not that bright." He explained, causing the Knight to smile widely. He looked even more handsome when he smiled and I felt my own lips tugging, unwittingly, upwards, in response.

"A bit like you then." The Knight replied, turning to laugh with the rest of his men. I felt my own smile drop. He may have been handsome but he was also incredibly rude, not a trait that I admired. The poor serving boy didn't seem to know what to say back and placed the tray he had been carrying atop a barrel.

"Shall I move it down the other end, Sir?" He asked, refusing to answer the insult and the Knight nodded in response. I watched, finding myself unable to look away from this clear abuse of power, as the servant lifted the target, beginning to carry it down to the other end of the square. I turned to look back at the Knight, shaking my head as he laughed with his friend's.

"This will teach him." I heard him mutter, the others laughing in response, nothing more than sheep following blindly. He pulled a dagger from his belt and before I could say or do anything to stop him, he had thrown it in the direction of where the serving boy carried the target, the blade embedding itself deep in the wood. He immediately dropped the target from where it had been covering his face, his eyes wide with shocked fear.

"Hey! Hang on!" His voice shook and the Knight's laughed at his misfortune. I found myself gritting my teeth in frustration. What an arrogant prat the handsome Knight had turned out to be!

"Don't stop." The servant moved a little further forward, unwilling to take his attention off the man, now holding another dagger, and asked;

"Here?"

"I told you to keep moving." The lead Knight's voice was no longer mocking and had turned deadly as he stared down the servant. He had no choice but to obey as the next dagger flew straight towards him, lifting the target just in time to avoid the blade that had been thrown directly at his head. "Come on! Run!" The Knight taunted and I felt my heart break a little at the poor man's misfortune as he began to run back and forth from one end of the square to the other. "We want some moving target practice!" The Knight yelled, continuing to throw daggers towards the board and if I hadn't been so outraged I would have commended his good aim, each dagger hitting the inner circle of the target. I continued to watch as the servant tripped, the board flying from his hands and rolling to a stop at my feet. The servant followed it but before he could pick it back up I placed my foot on top, my dirty boots scuffing its surface. I could feel the servant looking up at me but my attention was focused solely on the laughing Knight.

"That's enough," I growled out, the Knight's attention now turned directly on me. I refused to back down, watching to make sure he wasn't going to throw a dagger at my head as I met his disbelieving gaze.

"What?" He asked, beginning to walk towards me, looking at me like I was dirt but I stood tall, uncaring of his opinion.

"You've had your fun, my friend." He came to a stop, only a foot away from me, and I crossed my arms as I looked up at him.

"Do I know you?" He asked, smirking and I rolled my eyes at his arrogance before forcing myself to play nice and offer my hand. I didn't want to make enemies here and he didn't seem to be the best person for me to pick a fight with.

"I'm Merlin." I offered, not unkindly but there was an edge to my voice that I had never heard before. A sign of the deep anger that burned inside me.

"So I don't know you." He clarified and I lowered my hand, feeling foolish for having offered it in the first place.

"No." His question, if you could call it that, didn't require an answer but I gave him one anyway.

"And yet you called me friend?" He didn't like it, that much was obvious, I started to wonder if I would have been best to just keep out of it but men like him needed to be taught a lesson. That they couldn't abuse people just because they had a title. He was no better than the serving boy he had targetted and neither was he better than me. A thought he didn't seem to share.

"That was my mistake," I admitted, disgust clear in my voice.

"Yes, I think so." He agreed, warning me with his eyes to back off.

"Yeah. I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass." I spat, turning to go back inside. I wasn't interested in exploring anymore. I just wanted to clean myself up and read a book inside, away from the vile higher born people that seemed to have made Camelot their home.

"Or I one who could be so stupid." He laughed, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back to him, slowly, my body tense as I fought against the urge to smack him. "Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?" He had followed me, now in my personal space and I hated the fact that he was so much taller than me, forcing me to look up.

"No," I managed to get out, feeling my nostrils flaring in anger as he attempted to talk down to me. His smirk grew wider at the challenge in my voice.

"Would you like me to teach you?" My back was ramrod straight as I glared at him, my eyes holding a warning for him to back away or suffer the consequences. I may have been a girl, but I wasn't above punching this prat. Something I hadn't done before but figuring it was easy enough. Just clench your fist and aim for the face. Right?

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," I spat, my rage not fazing him.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" He had no idea what I could do. In fact, I realised, he wasn't even aware that I was a woman. My hat was still covering my hair, the bandages and baggy tunic hiding my shape. Oh, how good it would feel to smack him down in front of all his friend's and then reveal myself as a woman. He would be utterly humiliated. A fate that might change his actions in future. "Be my guest! Come on!" He taunted, ignoring the crowd that had begun to form around us. "Come on," He urged me, finally snapping through what was left of my restraint. I struck. My hand coming up in a blur of motion, faster than I had ever recalled moving before. It wasn't fast enough to take down a trained soldier, though. He had grabbed my wrist, spinning me around so that my back was to his chest, my arm twisted awkwardly between us before I could even register what had happened. He bent down to whisper in my ear, ignoring my struggles to get away. "I could have you put in jail for that." He threatened and I released an unladylike snort of disbelief. No one Knight had that much sway in the court.

"Who do you think you are? The King?" I spat, giving up in my struggle, he was as immovable as a mountain. I felt his chest vibrate against my back as he chuckled.

"No. I'm his son. Arthur." Shit! Only I could get into it with the bloody Prince on my second day in Camelot! Gaius was going to kill me!

Two guards grabbed me from either side, taking me from Arthur, and began leading me away. Depositing me in a dungeon cell. I didn't bother to fight them. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of humiliating me, too. My rage began to fizzle out as I sat upon the pile of straw. At least I wasn't claustrophobic. The small space reminding me of home. In fact, it was quite peaceful. Easy. I didn't have to do anything or pretend to be something I wasn't, whilst locked away. I allowed myself a small smile, singing softly to myself whilst weaving the pieces of straw together. Keeping myself occupied as best I could.