So, last chapter was pretty fluffy, and this chapter is kind of ridiculous. Anyway...I couldn't get this scene out of my head, for some reason. So here it is.


TWENTY-SIX: GWAINE'S FAULT (286 days)

Arthur walked through the busy marketplace with Guinevere, King Rodor, and Princess Mithian. The people of Camelot were rushing to make sure the festival would begin on time. Nemeth's embassy had arrived extremely early that morning, and once they'd had a chance to change their clothes, they had joined Arthur and his wife in overseeing the setup for the festival. So far, everything was going well.

Vendors of all kinds were sitting up booths, to sell their wares. Only about a half a dozen of them would be selling magical items, but it was a start. Arthur hoped to make it an annual event. As the years passed, he was sure more vendors would be willing to sell magical artifacts. He truly wanted this event to be a celebration of magic, and to showcase the wonderful things it was capable of doing.

Treasa was there, of course, displaying several intricate-looking necklaces. Kerenza was helping her, once again wearing a proper dress. It seemed that Queen Annis's remark about her appearance had had an impact on the druid girl.

Mithian sighed, pulling Arthur's attention away from the preparations going on around them. "I must admit, Arthur, that the idea of making magic legal again makes me nervous. You've seen the evil that magic can bring about."

He nodded. He knew, after everything that Morgana had put her through, that Mithian would have reservations about his recent law changes. But he also knew that she would listen to his reasoning for the changes. "I have. I have also seen the good it can bring about. I have realized that by outlawing magic, we only ensured that it was used exclusively by outlaws. We ensured that we were only seeing the evil in it, and not the good."

She studied him for several moments. Then she nodded. King Rodor remained silent as his daughter spoke. "We still have our reservations, but we trust that you know what you are doing, then."

"Yes." He was confident that he was doing the right thing. He knew that not all of the other kingdoms agreed with his law changes, but none of them had openly come out against him because of it. He felt like they were all waiting with bated breath to see if this change would destroy Camelot or not. Arthur was certain that Camelot would not fall because of this.

"And this Court Sorcerer of yours?" King Rodor asked. "Who is he?"

Arthur looked between the two members of royalty. "You don't know?"

Mithian gave him a reproachful look, which Guinevere caught and snickered at. "You know perfectly well that your invitation was purposefully vague in regards to his identity."

She, of course, had a point. He hadn't revealed the identity of his Court Sorcerer. He'd been very careful not to give any hints, either. He felt it was safer to reveal it in person. "I assumed you would have heard rumors."

"Yes, well, the rumors aren't exactly insightful. I've heard the name Emrys, but I spent enough time with Morgana to know that Emrys is not the sorcerer's true name. Who is he, really?"

Arthur grinned. "No, it is his true name," he insisted. "One of them, at any rate. It's what the druids call him."

The princess narrowed her eyes at him. "Who is he?"

Before either Arthur or Guinevere could respond, Merlin came rushing toward them. He stopped in front of Arthur, breathing a bit heavier than usual. "Arthur, we might have a bit of a problem," he panted. He didn't acknowledge any of the others. He probably didn't even see them.

The young king groaned. He hated hearing those words from his best friend. "What did you do this time?"

Merlin actually had the audacity to look indignant. "Me? Why do you always assume it's my fault?"

"Because it always is."

"That is not true. I -"

"Merlin!" Arthur interrupted. "What is the problem?"

"Oh. Right. Uh, well. Princess Elena is…She's currently a donkey. It was Gwaine's fault!"

Silence.

Arthur tried to process what he'd just been told. Princess Elena - who had arrived the previous afternoon, with her father - was a donkey. Surely Merlin wasn't serious. This had to be a prank. Arthur was hoping that this was just an elaborate prank. "What?"

"Princess Elena is -"

"I heard what you said," Arthur growled, interrupting his idiotic friend. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off the headache he could feel building. His three companions looked horrified. "This isn't a prank, is it?"

"No. Of course not."

"How?"

"Um, well. You see, Gwaine has been obnoxious all morning, making stupid comments about…Never mind. What he was saying isn't important. He was being an ass, so I…I tried to turn him into one. He was practically daring me to use magic on him."

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Mithian's eyes widen.

"Only he moved just as I started to say the incantation. He must have realized that I had finally had enough," Merlin continued. "Elena turned the corner just then, and the spell hit her instead of Gwaine, so…Now she's a donkey."

Arthur sighed. He wanted to strangle the sorcerer. "So it is your fault."

"It is not. I -"

"Merlin?" Mithian demanded. She and her father were gaping at the young sorcerer. "Merlin, you can…perform magic?"

Merlin looked at the princess, as though he had just noticed her presence. It was the first time he'd seen her since her arrival. Arthur hadn't been able to find the sorcerer in time to welcome the group. Merlin gave a swift, messy bow.

"Hello, Princess Mithian. Yes, I can perform magic."

"Are you carrying a pair of women's shoes?" she asked.

Arthur hadn't noticed it before, but Merlin was indeed holding a pair of women's shoes. He shouldn't have been surprised, with the number of times he caught the man stealing women's dresses, but he hadn't expected it.

Merlin barely glanced at the footwear in his right hand. "Yes. I am. I need them."

"He's your Court Sorcerer?" the princess questioned, clearly questioning the young king's sanity in appointing Merlin as such. Arthur was questioning it himself at the moment.

Arthur nodded, looking back at Merlin. "Where is Princess Elena now? And why haven't you changed her back yet?"

Merlin scratched the back of his neck, wincing slightly. "I don't…know. She ran off, and now I can't find her."

"How hard is it to find a donkey inside the castle?"

"Arthur! If I could find her, do you really think I'd be asking you? Do you know where Kerenza is? I could use her help with a tracking spell."

Guinevere raised her eyebrows at him. "I would think that with as powerful as you are, you wouldn't need help."

Merlin huffed. "I have the power to do it. I just don't know many tracking spells very well. Kerenza already knows what she's doing. Besides, I thought you were worried about me using too much of my own strength. It's why you wanted me to do my performance with someone else."

Arthur grinned slightly. "You just want an excuse to spend more time with her."

The dark-haired man threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Those are exactly the types of comments that led to this disaster to begin with. Please just tell me where she is, if you know."

"She's helping her mother set up her booth."

"Of course. I should have realized. She told me she was going to do that." Merlin turned and, once he'd located Treasa's booth, rushed toward it.

Arthur shook his head, frustrated. "It wouldn't be very appropriate for me to put a member of my own council in the stocks, would it?" he asked wistfully. At the moment, he would love nothing more than to lock his friend into the stocks for this ridiculousness.

Then again, it probably wouldn't do him any good, now that everyone knew he was a sorcerer. Merlin could just magic himself back out.


Kerenza entered the castle, walking beside Merlin. She held the princess's shoes, which she was using for the tracking spell - Elena had apparently been holding them in her hands when the spell hit her. Merlin had picked them up for her to use for the spell.

She had been chuckling since Merlin had explained the situation to her. It was just so…ridiculous. "I still can't believe you turned her into a donkey," she told him. "I happen to really like Elena. She's…interesting." She'd met her the day before, and she had felt an almost immediate connection with the quirky princess. She loved how Elena was so carefree and true to herself. And she disliked shoes just as much as Kerenza did.

"You should have seen her when she had a Sidhe trapped inside her." A small smile was pulling at his lips as he said it.

"A Sidhe?" Kerenza asked, just to make sure she had heard him correctly. He nodded. Thinking about the young woman she'd met, though, she really shouldn't have been surprised. "I guess it makes sense. She doesn't anymore, does she?"

"No. Gaius and I handled it. How close are we?"

She smirked at the anxious tone he was using. "We're close. Are you afraid that you're going to get into trouble for this?"

He snorted. "Of course I'm afraid that I'm going to get into trouble. Arthur will have me in the stocks for a week if I don't fix this." Kerenza had to laugh at his sullen expression, which Merlin didn't seem to appreciate very much. "It is not funny! You have never been in the stocks, so you don't understand just how annoying they are. I've managed to avoid them for several years now, and I'd like to keep avoiding them."

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle her laughter. Following the spell, she led Merlin around a corner, and they nearly collided with Sir Gwaine.

The knight looked between the two of them, a slow smirk pulling at his lips. He opened his mouth, presumably to make some comment about them. It seemed as though several of the knights - including King Arthur - were convinced that she and Merlin were…romantically involved with each other. The comments didn't bother her. She was used to ignoring teasing like that. But she was starting to think that maybe it was bothering Merlin.

Merlin muttered a word under his breath, she couldn't quite make out what it was. His eyes glowed golden, and when Gwaine tried to speak, no sound came out.

"This is all your fault, Gwaine. I really don't want to hear another one of your stupid comments. Kerenza, keep leading, please."

She wondered why it bothered Merlin so much, as they continued walking. Gwaine was one of his best friends. And sure, he might tease Merlin and Kerenza about their supposed love life - which didn't exist; they were just friends -, but Merlin had to know that it was all in good fun. Attempting to turn his friend into a donkey seemed a bit extreme for Merlin.

Merlin must have released the spell once he thought they were far enough away, because Gwaine's voice suddenly yelled after them, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Merlin groaned. "There's nothing that man wouldn't do," he muttered.

Before she could respond, they found the princess. Merlin sighed in relief as he said the counterspell.

Princess Elena, back in her own form, smiled and rushed to hug each of them. "That was certainly interesting, but I'm glad I'm back. Are you two ready for the festival?" she asked. Without giving either of them a chance to reply, she looped her arms through theirs and started making her way through the castle.


I don't know if this chapter really moved the story along, either, but like I said, I couldn't get it out of my head.

To NerdGirlAlert: It was a side of Kerenza that I totally wasn't expecting to show yet. But I'm glad that I did.

To adela92: Yeah, that chapter really ended up being about character development more than anything else. But every story has to have some of that.

To mersan123: I've always liked Annis. She's...formidable, and she doesn't take crap from anybody.

To guest: Oh my gosh! Duh! I love the casual magic idea and I will be trying to incorporate it into the story in the future. Thanks. I can't believe I didn't think of that.

To xxxLeanniexxx: I love the fact that Merlin is a big softy.

I think I'm going with Merlenza. Thanks for all the suggestions! And Freya will be mentioned at some point, it just hasn't fit in well with any of the conversations so far.