The first part of "The Gates of Avalon". The name comes from the Prophetiæ Merlini (or Prophecies of Merlin) though I replaced Merlin with Morgana for obvious reasons.

"Hey, Gwen?"

Gwen smiled as Merlin came up to her side. "Hello, Merlin. What's wrong?"

"Nothing with me, but is Morgana feeling okay? She was acting weird earlier, asking questions about Sophia."

"Sophia?" Gwen stopped to face him.

"Sophia Tír-Mòr, she and her father are staying in the castle awhile. Morgana looked panicked when she saw her. Said Sophia couldn't stay here."

Gwen's eyes widened, remembering what Morgana had said about her latest dream.

"What?"

"I… Merlin, can you keep a secret?" She shook her head. "No, nevermind."

"Hey!"

Spotting his offended look, she patted his hand. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, you're awful at keeping your own secret, but I trust you to keep someone else's."

"Thanks?"

"It's just, it's not my secret to tell. You understand?"

"Yeah," he said and held her hand. "Morgana is okay though, right? Can you tell me that much?"

Gwen bit her lip and nodded. "She's okay, just… keep an eye on Sophia."

Merlin looked confused, but agreed.

"Thank you. I need to go."

"Alright. See you later."

She said goodbye and rushed off. She found Morgana near the stairs to Gaius's quarters. "Milady."

"Gwen," she greeted with a smile, though Gwen could see she looked distressed.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Okay," she said and they slipped into an empty room. "Is something wrong?"

"Merlin just came to talk to me. He was worried about you. He said - Well, Sophia, she's the one from your dream, isn't she."

Morgana looked pale as she nodded. "You didn't tell him anything?"

"Of course not, and he didn't ask once I told him I couldn't tell. He just wanted to be sure you're okay."

That made Morgana relax a little, but only just. "He's a good person.

"You're sure it's her? Sophia."

"I could never forget that face," Morgana sighed, sitting down against the wall.

Gwen sat next to her and took her hand. "You should speak to the King."

"And tell him what? That I can see the future?"

"If you think Arthur's life is in danger -"

"You know how he'd react," Morgana said, pulling away.

"You're his ward, he wouldn't harm you."

"He hates magic more than he cares for me."

"That's not true."

"Would you care to put it to the test?"

Gwen swallowed. She wanted to believe the king would never hurt her friend, but Morgana was right, she would never risk Morgana's life like that. But there had to be something…

"Maybe you should talk to Merlin."

"Merlin? What can he do? I was going to speak to Gaius, but…"

"He'll just give you another sleeping draft. You know that. Talk to Merlin. He's always by Arthur's side. He can make sure she can't do anything."

"How do you know I can trust him?" Morgana stood up and Gwen followed, taking her hand again.

"Merlin didn't grow up here. He's not as prejudiced. You can trust him. As you said, he's a good person."

Morgana bowed her head.

"Please, Morgana."

"I'll consider it."

"I'm taking Sophia out for a ride today. You know, show her around."

Merlin frowned, remembering Gwen's warning. "Where do I come into this?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be on patrol with the guard and my father this morning, so I need you to cover for me."

His eyes widened. "What, and lie to the King? No. No way. No, he'll see right through me. He'll have me in the stocks quicker than you can say rotten tomatoes."

"Merlin, I need you to do this for me."

"I am a terrible liar. I start sweating, my…my vision blurs, my…my brain stops working."

"Well, no change there, then."

"Also, Gwen said to keep an eye on Sophia. Her and Morgana are worried about something."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Morgana's just in one of her paranoid moods. It happens here and there and Guinevere encourages it. You'll get used to it."

Merlin wasn't convinced, and it must have shown on his face because Arthur came around the bed to stand next to him.

"Look, I promised Sophia I'd take her out and if I don't turn up it'll blow my chances."

Merlin's lips twitched up. "You like her, then?"

"Yeah. What's not to like? I want to spend some more time with her, but I need to get my father off my back. I can't order you to lie to the King, but… you'll be a friend for life if you do."

Merlin smiled, but there was a nervous energy still in his stomach. "Okay, but… take Gwen with you."

"We don't need a chaperone."

"No, but knowing you, you'll need a servant," Merlin said, thinking quickly. "And I'm sure Sophia would prefer to be alone with you and a maid rather than you and another man."

"I wouldn't classify you as a man," Arthur snorted.

"Besides," Merlin huffed, ignoring the comment. "If Gwen's with you then hopefully her and Morgana will calm down faster. And do you really want to deal with Sophia's father if he finds out you were alone together? What if he takes it up with your father and he finds out you purposefully skipped out on patrol?"

"Alright, fine. Have Guinevere meet us in the square. You still need to cover with my father though."

"Go on, then, you don't want to keep her waiting."

"He's what!?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't talk him out of it."

"You need to go with him, Gwen," Morgana said, looking at her maid pleadingly. "I'll be fine without you."

She curtsied and left quickly.

"Thank you," Merlin said and Morgana shook her head.

"No, thank you for doing what you could. I know how stubborn Arthur can be."

"Can… Can I ask what has you both so worried?"

Morgana looked away.

"Nevermind, I understand."

She turned back to him and was surprised to see he didn't look annoyed, only worried. "I -"

He shook his head. "It's okay. I don't need to know."

She nodded, tears in her eyes.

He took her hands and gave them a squeeze, smiling. "Besides, now I've got to go lie to the king and hope I don't end up in the stocks, or worse."

She squeezed his hands back. "I'll handle Uther. It's the least I can do?"

She barely held back a laugh when the boy was obviously extremely relieved. "You don't owe me anything, but thank you so much." He stepped back and looked around. "I guess I'll help you out in here since Arthur's gone for the day and I kind of stole your maid."

"You don't need to do that. You should take the day off."

Merlin shook his head, already heading over to the bed. "It's fine. If I head back to Gaius's, he'll just put me to work anyways and I'm putting off cleaning the leech tank for as long as possible."

Morgana chuckled and went to the door. "Well, I'd be happy to help you evade your chores."

"Thanks, though I should warn you: I've been told I'm a terrible servant."

"Whoever told you that sounds like a… what is it… a prat?"

The two laughed and Morgana slipped out the door.

Uther was tying his cape on when she entered the Council Chamber and she came up to help.

"Where's Arthur?" he asked as she adjusted the ties.

"Arthur?"

"We're supposed to do a patrol with the guard."

She gave him a surprised expression. "He was telling the truth?"

"The truth?"

"I asked - well, forced, really - him to do a favor for me. He said he was supposed to go out with you, but I thought he was just making excuses. He's likely already out of the city."

Uther sighed and shook his head. "Should I be concerned about what you two are up to now?"

She smiled and brushed a wrinkle off his shoulder. "Of course not, just some playful teasing. I am sorry. It's all my fault, don't be mad at him. If I had known he really was supposed to be with you…"

Uther took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "It's fine. I'm just glad you two aren't fighting again. He can make it up another day."

"Thank you," she said, victorious.

Gwen knew she was supposed to be protecting Arthur, a brave and honorable cause, but she just felt awkward as she led the horses and tried to ignore the nobles flirting ahead of her. She was especially ignoring the angry looks Sophia kept sending her. Sophia definitely wanted Arthur alone, either because she wanted to kill him or for… other reasons.

Gwen blushed as the two stopped and Sophia leaned in close to his face to whisper something to him. She looked away and her eyes widened when she spotted a group of guards coming their way.

"You there! Halt!"

"Arthur!" Gwen shouted as one of them raised their crossbow to fire.

He grabbed Sophia and pulled her down as the bolt flew over their heads. He then stomped over to the guards, yelling as he went.

"Are you alright, milady?" Gwen asked, coming closer.

"Fine," the other girl breathed shakily, staring at the bolt.

"I'm glad. Here." Gwen grabbed the wooden staff Sophia had sat down just before the incident to hand back to her and her eyes caught on the weird symbols carved into the staff below the crystal embedded into the top.

"Don't touch that!" she hissed, snatching it away.

Gwen blinked then took a step back and bowed her head. "Apologies, milady."

"You okay?" Arthur asked, jogging over and looking between the two girls.

Gwen nodded and Sophia gave him a smile and batted her eyes. "Yes. Thanks to you."

"They were searching for the bandits that attacked you yesterday." He wrapped an arm around her waist and Gwen took that as her cue to slip back to the horses. "Are you sure you're okay? You seemed angry with Guinevere."

"I'm fine. This staff is just a special family heirloom and I don't allow the servants to touch it."

Gwen held back a giggle as she thought of the faces Merlin and Morgana would make hearing that.

"I'm sorry… Maybe we should go back."

"It's fine. Don't let her spoil our day together," she said, setting a hand on his chest. "We were having such a nice time. Let's go down to the river."

She tried to step out of his grip, but he turned her towards Gwen. "I'm taking you back to Camelot. Your father would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you."

Gwen sighed with relief as the girl grew annoyed, but marched towards the horses.

"How was it?" Morgana asked once Gwen had shut the door.

"It was fine. They just walked and flirted until -" Gwen cut off as when she noticed Merlin off to the side, scrubbing the floor. "Oh Merlin, you don't need to do that."

Morgana smiled and waved her hand. "He's hiding from Gaius."

He shrugged and stood up. "I should probably be going now. Arthur's probably already got a list of things for me to do now that you guys are back. I know he'll be wanting his dinner soon."

"I'll come with you," Gwen said and glanced at Morgana, who tilted her head in agreement.

Once they were out of the room, Gwen whispered, "I think there's something wrong with her staff."

"Sophia's? What do you mean?"

"She yelled at me when I tried to hand it to her. She said it was just because I'm a servant, which isn't impossible, but it had these were symbols carved into it."

"You think it's magic?" he asked, looking around to be sure no one was listening in.

"I don't know. They didn't look like the ones in the book, but it wasn't anything I've seen in Morgana's books either."

Merlin frowned. "Arthur wanted me to take care of her and her father, so I'll try to take a peek. Maybe there's something in Gaius's books that I can match them to."

Merlin slipped into Aulfric's room and looked around. Seeing no one, he shut the door and crept over to the staff resting against the wall. He looked over the engravings with a frown, trying to match them to anything he'd seen in Gaius's books. It definitely wasn't Graecus or Aegyptiacus.

He heard someone at the door and darted over to the bed.

"What are you doing here?"

He turned to see Aulfric glaring at him suspiciously.

He bowed. "I'm Merlin. Prince Arthur told me to make sure you and your daughter are comfortable and have anything you need. I was just checking your bedding."

"I do not want you in my chambers when I am not here. Leave."

He nodded and left at a relaxed pace. He walked down the hall and turned the corner where Gwen was waiting for him.

"What happened?"

"He almost walked in on me, but I was able to get a look at it before he came in. I didn't recognize it, but I think it looked familiar. I need to double-check the books now that I've seen it. Can you help or does Morgana need you?"

She shook her head. "She wanted to go to bed early so I have the night off. I'll do what I can."

"You're dressed!" Merlin said when Arthur walked in, dressed in simple clothing.

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Merlin?"

"What… You're supposed to be wearing these!" he said, shaking the armor he'd been preparing. "Your father's bestowing a knighthood on one of your men this morning!"

"I'm giving it a miss."

He sighed and set it down. "Won't the King mind?"

"Not if you…er…cover for me, again. By the way, thanks for yesterday. I don't know how you convinced Morgana to lie for me."

"She offered. Arthur, I think you need to be more careful around Sophia."

"Not you too," he huffed, glaring at Merlin.

"Arthur, there's something off about her staff, her father's too. There are these engravings -"

"Are they magic?"

"I don't know. Gwen and I tried to find them in Gaius's library last night, but we were still looking when she had to leave."

"So you're worried over a fancy walking stick."

"Please Arthur, just… why not stay in the castle? Take her to the garden or -"

"Stop being such a girl, Merlin. She wants to see the river." Arthur looked up at him and sighed. "If it will make you stop pouting, I'll take Guinevere with me again."

Merlin groaned, but he could see Arthur wasn't going to relent. "Alright, fine, but take Gwen."

"You just make sure you don't end up in the stocks."

"We ought to just let him face Uther's wrath," Morgana huffed as Gwen ran out the door to attend to Arthur.

"I would never hear the end of it if I did," Merlin groaned. "And Uther would probably take it out on me."

"You're right," she agreed, looking annoyed.

"What am I supposed to tell Uther? I can't lie to save my life." Unfortunately. He really needed to get better at that considering it really could save his life.

Morgana hummed for a moment, thinking. "Tell him exactly what I say. Say…"

"Prince Arthur sends his regrets, but he received information pertaining to the bandits who attacked Lord Tír-Mòr and his daughter and the safety of his country, unfortunately, has to take precedence to such pleasantries."

Merlin fidgetted as Uther and Leon stared at him. Despite Morgana's assurances that Uther would assume he was just worried about giving the king bad news, he was still anxious that Uther would know he's lying.

"Tell Arthur I want to speak to him once he returns."

Sighing with relief, Merlin bowed and left. As he slipped out the door, he heard Uther tell Leon, "I'm glad he's taking his responsibilities seriously, but he needs to learn when to delegate such tasks to others."

Arthur's going to kill me, Merlin thought with a sigh.